Drug consumption room GATE is playing an essential role in keeping drugs out of the public space in Brussels. Since opening more than two years ago, it has prevented some 16,000 drug intakes on the streets.
Run by the non-profit Transit, GATE is a drug consumption room located between Bruxelles-Midi railway station (one of Brussels' 'drug hotspots'), and the city centre. It opened in May 2022 in response to an explosion of public drug use.
The centre allows drug users to snort, sniff, inject or inhale their own illicit substances in a clean space with sterile syringes, under the supervision of trained medical staff. They provide advice about safer practices and intervene in the event of an overdose.
When properly established – in this case, GATE has the support of the City of Brussels – such supervised consumption services can save the lives of people dependent on drugs. As reported earlier this year, people using drugs have said they consume less at the centre than they normally would.
However, these supervised consumption sites also significantly benefit communities and residents of neighbourhoods where drugs were in the past used openly in public spaces. Between May 2022 and this month, the centre has received over 1,000 different drug users, half of whom are homeless.
A ventilated room where users can smoke crack cocaine. Credit: Belga / Juliette Bruynseels
GATE has thereby already been able to prevent 16,000 drug intakes on the streets, Bruzz reported. "We see that seven in ten users in the centre have indicated that they would otherwise use on the street because they live there and have no alternative," said Transit spokesperson Bruno Valkeneers. While Brussels residents are not necessarily opposed to the centre, they would prefer for it not to be in their neighbourhood.
Social support
The majority of people visiting the centre are dependent on crack. This is the processed form of cocaine that is often linked to people living in precarious situations as it is cheap (a hit costs between €10 and €15) and allows people to forget their problems. One ventilated room is specifically dedicated to smoking this substance.
GATE takes into account the social issues linked to drug use, such as poverty and homelessness, and offers a plethora of routes towards help, social counselling and medical support, among others.
A second similar centre, the 'Link Up' project, will open in early 2025 in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean near the Ribaucourt and Yser metro stops, both so-called 'drug hotspots'. It combines a user space, healthcare and sleeping places for drug users.
