Crack in Paris: Housed and helped drug addicts reduce their use, study finds

REPORT This is the result of a survey commissioned by the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency

Crack users, September 26, at the square de la Porte de Villette, in Paris. — Eric DESSONS/JDD/SIPA

• Researchers from the Hospices Civils de Lyon and the University of Lyon-1 Claude Bernard have evaluated the Assore system, which currently offers accommodation and social support to 536 crack users in Paris.
• The results are clear: 87% of consumers surveyed have seen their crack consumption decrease since joining the scheme and 19% have even stopped using crack altogether.
• The ARS stresses, however, that the system suffers, according to the assessment of the scientific team, from a lack of staff and a “significant lack of accommodation solutions downstream of Assore”, which can lead to users who have made progress “a certain discouragement”.

Supporting crack users, including housing and social support, massively reduces their crack use. This is the conclusion of a study released by the French Health Agency. regional (ARS) of Ile-de-France and carried out by ​​researchers from the Hospices Civils de Lyon and the Université of Lyon-1 Claude Bernard on people frequenting the scenes of consumption in the north-east of Paris.

This investigation focused on the Assore device, worn by the Aurore association, which is a program of accommodation in rooms of a hotel associated with to social support. 536 people benefit from it today, and the scientific team interviewed 20% of beneficiaries. The results are indisputable: 87% of the consumers questioned saw their consumption of crack decrease since their entry into the device and 19% even stopped using it. totally crack.

“Quitting the use of any addictive substance, however, is very rare. Instead, consumers move from compulsive consumption, with high risks, to a more controlled consumption,” however, warns the ARS in a press release.

A program less expensive than the usual care

This d’ ;walk sometimes called Housing firstin English, (in French “A Home First”) was launched in the United States in the 1960s, with the idea that the first step to any reintegration is to have a roof. An approach not necessarily more expensive than other devices, since according to a medico-economic model over a long horizon of ten years cited in the report, “ Housing firstis less expensive than the usual care”.

The beds in the Assore program are spread over 61 hotels. The Aurore association and the Samu social de Paris reserve the rooms and specialized educators, nurses and psychologists regularly visit the users in the hotels. “The objective,” from the update; the shelter, is to reaccustom users to live indoors and in the community, so as to stabilize them in accommodation, watch over their situation and bring them to engage in care pathways and administrative procedures,” diffused by the Regional Health Agency.

A positive review despite shortcomings

The ARS stresses, however, that the system suffers, according to the evaluation of the scientific team, from a lack of staff and a “notable lack of downstream hosting solutions d’Assore” which can engender in users who have made progress “a certain discouragement” Psychiatric care also appears to be insufficient, due to “a structural weakness in the supply” and “d’a persistent compartmentalization with addictology”.

But the results remain generally positive according to the report that20 Minutes was able to consult: &ldquo ; All of the stakeholders interviewed therefore consider the accommodation and support offered by Assore as a necessary (although not sufficient) condition for effective support for precarious crack users.”