Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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On the street about a week and a half ago, I encountered a suspected overdose. I would not be able to tell, but I suspected that it was an overdose. I checked her and she had no naloxone. The experience was difficult because nobody wanted to help me put her in the recovery position. They did not even want to touch the girl. It was a really horrible experience. I am used to overdoses. I have dealt with them many times, but I was definitely not used to the on-street experience. One older lady came to help me keep the girl up straight while I negotiated with a shop to ring for an ambulance. It was a negotiation that she should have an ambulance. In that situation, it is about being able to run into a chemist and access the nasal spray. Obviously, you are taking a risk as to whether it is an overdose or not, and it could have been anything that was wrong with the girl, but it is not going to cause any harm to her in that context. Given that there are so many people on our streets who may not even be in a service, it is important that we can access naloxone.

I apologise for going over my speaking time. When we talk about options for recovery, this goes right back to the very first comment from Dr. Keenan regarding the response when someone is coming off methadone and needs those options and supports, and being able to fill the gap that accessing the service used to fill, whether that be education or employment. When we look at options, is it noted and acknowledged that those options are massively decreased if a person has a criminal conviction for possession of drugs, which cannot come off their vetting forms. That will stay on the vetting form in line with murder, sexual offences and gun crimes. It will remain there so somebody who is looking to access a particular source of education or employment is excluded from full recovery due to a criminal conviction in many cases, although not all. When we talk about options, do we need to acknowledge that, under the current legislation, a criminal conviction reduces the options for recovery?