Shooting galleries: "We need 6 more," argues David Belliard, candidate for mayor of Paris, on RMC.

Do "shooting galleries" have a future in France? An amendment passed this weekend by MPs as part of the Social Security Finance Bill extended the experiment of addiction treatment centers until 2027, whereas their closure was initially planned for December 31, 2025. But their future remains contingent on a vote on the current Social Security Finance Bill, which is far from certain.

However, according to David Belliard, deputy mayor of Paris and Green Party candidate in the upcoming municipal elections, supervised drug consumption rooms must be made permanent. “I am outraged by this dithering. We wait until we have effective solutions to eradicate drug use on the street. And in Paris, we have a lot of it. It puts everyone at risk and creates tension. Obviously, nobody likes having people taking drugs or crack near their homes or next to their children's school. And above all, drug users are people who are severely addicted, who are ill, and we must provide them with support,” he emphasizes.

He believes that in Paris's 10th arrondissement, where the supervised injection site has been piloted since 2016, the situation has improved. "There are fewer syringes on the street," he asserts. Therefore, he argues that these supervised injection sites should be more widely implemented.

“Today, we only have one drug consumption room in Paris. So, as a result, everyone goes there. It's 300 visits per day, it's huge with a team that is overloaded.”

"But to get out of this pressure, we need to open others elsewhere. I propose that we open 2 more, especially as an emergency in the Rosa Parks area, and also 4 other mobile ones," David Belliard emphasizes.

Some residents, like Thierry, a member of the “Riverains Lariboisière Gare du Nord” collective, are against these shooting galleries. “This facility leads to excessive drug use in the street, with people coming to inject drugs and discarding their equipment in public spaces. We are witnessing a resurgence of all kinds of disturbances: fights, shouting, and constant drug trafficking,” he emphasizes.

David Belliard acknowledges this observation. “Of course it exists, I don’t deny that. But we want to eradicate this problem,” he emphasizes. He cites the examples of Berlin and Copenhagen, which have succeeded in eliminating street drug use.