Police demolished 'illegal' drug consumption room in Helsinki

In order to raise public awareness of effective overdose-death prevention methods, activists set up an unofficial drug consumption room in the middle of Helsinki.

A tent was set up in the centre of Helsinki, where those who inject drugs could come and use them safely, with the support of health professionals offering help, advice, hygienic equipment, and food. The facility aimed to prevent drug overdoses and infections related to the sharing of injecting equipment.

At around 4:50 p.m. on Wednesday, the police arrived and asked the activists to disassemble the tent. The tent was disassembled shortly after.

According to the organisers, the police argued that there was a reasonable suspicion that people committed crimes in the tent. However, according to the organisers, no one has visited the tent to use drugs, so there is no reason for the police to suspect.

According to Juha-Pekka Pääskysaari, one of the organisers of the event, this was an act of civil disobedience, borne out of the frustration of professionals and activists that the establishment of drug consumption rooms in Finland has progressed so slowly.

Pääskysaari, like other volunteers, said he was not representing any organisation. The action was organised by individual citizens protesting repressive drug policies.

“Simply put, this is civil disobedience,” said Pääskysaari. “By setting up this room, we want to highlight how people with substance abuse are treated in society. How can there be one group of people in this society whose illness is treated as a crime?”