Bogota fights heroin overdoses with South America's only supervised drug consumption room

BOGOTA, Colombia — The left arm of Christian Camilo Amaya is tattooed with a skull pierced by a syringe, which he says represents the use of cocaine and heroin. He frequently shot up on streets of Bogota, but he has recently switched to South America's only supervised room for drug use, aimed at reducing harm and preventing overdoses.

Non-profit organization Accion Tecnica Social runs the supervised room named Cambie (or Change in English) in Colombia's capital. Since it opened in June 2023, 14 users had their overdoses treated with injections of naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses. The last such case was a year ago.

Amaya often carries a black plastic bag with more than a dozen used syringes, which he puts in a red container for biological waste, as protocols for using the room dictate. He denies being addicted to heroin, but argues the supervised room gives him syringes and training on hygienic injections and overdose prevention.

''I know what substances do to me, so I know I shouldn't be a frequent user for that very reason, to avoid becoming addicted,'' Amaya told The Associated Press in the unmarked drug use room in one of the city's impoverished neighborhoods.

The initiative is one of the topics of the International Conference on Harm Reduction, which started Sunday in Bogota. It is the first time the conference has been held in Latin America in the past three decades, as the leftist administration of President Gustavo Petro pushes for a revision in the international drug control system of the United Nations.

The supervised consumption room currently has 87 registered users, 26% of whom are Venezuelan migrants, who come to inject themselves or receive syringes, food, guidance on lower-risk injection techniques, or overdose management.

Of the users who come to the room, 91% use heroin, 7% inject cocaine, and less than 2% use speedballs, a mixture of cocaine and heroin. Official data on heroin use in Colombia is scarce.

The project was born in 2022 when organizers started contacting users directly to identify their needs. It received technical advice from other countries, especially Mexico.

For David Moreno, who works at Cambie, the most difficult part of reversing an overdose is not injecting the naloxone but avoiding a follow-up overdose.

''Once I had a user who would get very violent when she came back from an overdose. She would start hurting herself, then she would take off my jacket and tie it, and I'd have to restrain her,'' said Moreno.

''When it happens, I am calm. But when the user leaves... Wow, my adrenaline rushes.''

Sam Rivera, the executive-director of OnPoint, a nonprofit organization in New York City that operates supervised injection centers, toured the small, nearly 65-foot room with three patient cubicles before AP's visit.

''I look at it as a mini version of what we're doing,'' Rivera said. He argues the initiative is also good for public security.

''I always tell people to come visit an overdose prevention center. When you hear about it, it sounds dangerous or it sounds bad because it sounds like you're enabling people to use," he added. ''These are people who are going to use. So instead of using outside, in danger, leaving these supplies in the street, everything happens inside, everything stays inside.''