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

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — 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. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content.



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