Initiative for homeless drug users in central Athens

As part of a plan to tackle drug use among the homeless in the center of Athens, a new dormitory structure is set to open in the downtown area of Agios Pavlos.

However, the new structure has drawn the opposition of local residents.

Similar structures are also being planned in western Attica and Piraeus, according to national drugs coordinator Dr Christos Kouimtsidis.

At the same time, the City of Athens is planning to launch mobile units for supervised drug use and to boost the efforts of social workers on the city’s streets. These workers reach out to users on the street and provide them with clean needles to protect themselves from disease.

According to Fotini Leobilla, president of the municipality’s addiction prevention center, “within the next six months we expect to have the specific vehicles that can also be used as mobile medical units.”