Bayer pays $10 bn to settle weedkiller cancer cases

Yahoo – AFP, Michelle FITZPATRICK, Jun 24, 2020

Roundup weedkiller. The deal relieves a major headache for Bayer, going on since
it bought US firm and Roundup maker Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018
(AFP Photo/Odd ANDERSEN)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German chemical giant Bayer said on Wednesday it had agreed to pay more than $10 billion to end a wave of lawsuits from Americans who say their cancers were caused by its Roundup weedkiller.

The deal relieves a major headache for Bayer, which has been going on since it bought US firm and Roundup maker Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018.

"The Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end," said CEO Werner Baumann in a statement.

At the same time Bayer announced it had also agreed separate multi-million-dollar payouts to resolve longstanding legal issues involving other Bayer products, as the group tries to turn the page on its courtroom dramas.

Bayer's share price climbed nearly six percent to 74.06 euros in after-hours trading following the surprise announcement.

The Roundup deal would bring closure to around 75 percent of current litigation that involves roughly 125,000 filed and unfiled claims, the statement said.

It would also settle about 95 percent of the cases currently set for trial and establish "key values and parameters" to resolve the remainder of the claims, Bayer added.

- 'Hard-fought battle' -

Roundup is a flagship Monsanto product containing glyphosate, a widely used weedkiller that tens of thousands of plaintiffs say caused their illness -- with many suffering from the blood cancer non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Bayer suffered a clutch of financially painful setbacks in first-instance US court rulings last year, although the amounts awarded were later reduced.

The legal woes have weighed heavily on the group's share price with many observers and investors questioning the wisdom of the Monsanto takeover.

Jennifer Moore, a lawyer representing several Roundup plaintiffs, welcomed the deal.

"This settlement is significant for our clients because this has been a long, hard-fought battle and it brings justice for our clients," she told AFP.

Bayer maintains that scientific studies and regulatory approvals show Roundup's main ingredient glyphosate is safe, but said when it released first-quarter earnings data in April that it "continues to engage constructively in the mediation process".

The settlement announced on Wednesday consists of a payment of $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current Roundup litigation, Bayer said, and $1.25 billion to address potential future litigation.

Bayer stressed that the agreement would not cover three cases currently going through the appeals process.

They include the landmark first Roundup case brought by school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson who was eventually awarded $78.5 million.

Dicamba deal

In the same statement, Bayer said it would pay $820 million to settle decades-old complaints over Monsanto-made toxic chemicals known as PCBs that caused water contamination.

It also agreed to settle US lawsuits involving dicamba herbicide which has been blamed for wrecking crops in America, by drifting on to plants unable to resist it.

The group said it would pay up to $400 million to resolve pending claims in Missouri for the 2012-2015 crop years.

Bayer said it expects co-defendant BASF -- which also manufacturers a type of dicamba -- to contribute towards the settlement.

It comes after a US jury in February awarded $265 million to Missouri peach farmer Bill Bader who accused the two companies of encouraging farmers to use the weedkiller irresponsibly.

Bayer said the Bader case was not included in the proposed settlement.

"The company believes the verdict in Bader Farms is inconsistent with the evidence and the law and will continue to pursue post-trial motions and an appeal, if necessary," it said.

Bayer said it would make the first cash payments related to the mass settlements starting this year. Part of the funds will come from the sale of its profitable animal health unit.

"All three settlements are in the best interest of the company and our stakeholders," said supervisory board chairman Norbert Winkeljohann.

Germany moves to ban gay 'conversion therapy'

Yahoo – AFP, December 18, 2019

The German government has introduced legislation that would see "conversion
 therapy" made punishable with up to a year in prison and fines of up to
30,000 euros ($33,000) (AFP Photo/JOHN MACDOUGALL)

Berlin (AFP) - The German government on Wednesday signed off on a new law banning "conversion therapies" designed to force heterosexuality on homosexuals.

The legislation, set to be introduced next year, would see the practice made punishable with up to a year in prison and fines of up to 30,000 euros ($33,000).

"Homosexuality is not an illness, so the word 'therapy' is misleading," said health minister Jens Spahn, the architect of the law.

Once it is approved, Germany -- where there are an estimated 1,000 attempts a year to "re-educate" gay people -- would be only the second European country with such a ban after Malta passed similar legislation in 2016.

Spahn said that he wanted the ban to be as far-reaching as possible, adding that the so-called therapies often caused "severe physical and psychological damage".

"A ban is also an important sign for all those struggling with their sexuality: it is ok to be as you are," said the health minister.

Aside from prison sentences for practitioners, the new law will impose fines for those offering or advertising "conversion" practices.

It could also potentially make parents and teachers liable if they are ruled to have neglected their duty of care.

So-called conversion therapies for minors will be outlawed entirely, while those for adults will be illegal if carried out against the will of the subject, for example with the use of force or threats.

Medical experts consider psychological or spiritual interventions to change someone's sexual orientation pseudo-scientific, ineffective and often harmful.

The most controversial techniques involve administering electric shocks as subjects view images of homosexual acts or injections of the male hormone testosterone.

In March 2018, the European parliament passed a resolution condemning the practice and urging member states to ban it.

Related Articles:

White House calls for end to psychiatric therapies seeking to change sexual orientation

'Praying the gay away': Trauma survivors crusade to ban conversion therapy

China court raps clinic over 'gay conversion' therapy

China court hears first gay 'conversion therapy' case

Gay Pride & Gay Rights in China: a Dutch Perspective (Liveblog)

Gay conversion therapy should have no place in NHS, says health minister

‘Pray away the gay’ therapies quickly losing ground in the United States

‘Gay cure’ no longer reimbursed: Dutch health minister

(Photo: Alexandria)

"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)  - (Text version)

“… Gender Switching

Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."

It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”

Monsanto ordered to pay $2 bn in latest Roundup blow

Yahoo – AFP, Glenn CHAPMAN, May 14, 2019

Monsanto has suffered the latest in a series of court defeats for its glyphosate-based
weedkiller Roundup, which the company insists is not linked to cancer (AFP Photo/
JOSH EDELSON)

San Francisco (AFP) - In a third major legal blow to Bayer-owned Monsanto and its weedkiller Roundup, a jury in California has ordered the chemicals giant to pay more than $2 billion in damages to a couple that sued on grounds the product caused their cancer, lawyers said.

The ruling on Monday was the latest in a series of court defeats for Monsanto over the glyphosate-based product, but the company insists the weedkiller is not linked to cancer.

The couple's legal team described the damages award as "historic," saying it totalled $2.055 billion (1.8 billion euros) after adding in slightly more than $55 million in compensatory damages.

"The jury saw for themselves internal company documents demonstrating that, from day one, Monsanto has never had any interest in finding out whether Roundup is safe," said plaintiff's counsel Brent Wisner.

"Instead of investing in sound science, they invested millions in attacking science that threatened their business agenda."

The setback sent Bayer's shares tumbling 2.55 percent to 55 euros in Frankfurt in mid-morning trading on Tuesday.

The German chemicals giant has seen close to 45 percent of its market capitalisation evaporate since it bought Monsanto in June 2018 for $63 billion.

Bayer finalised its massive acquisition of Monsanto last year, but the blockbuster
purchase has turned out to be plagued with other massive costs (AFP Photo/
Odd ANDERSEN)

In a statement, Bayer said it was disappointed with the jury's decision and would appeal the verdict, which it argues was at odds with a recent US Environmental Protection Agency review of glyphosate-based weedkillers.

"The consensus among leading health regulators worldwide is that glyphosate-based products can be used safely and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic," Bayer said.

Bayer apologises

Glyphosate developer Monsanto was convicted in the United States in 2018 and 2019 of not taking necessary steps to warn of the potential risks of Roundup -- their weedkiller containing the chemical, which two California juries found caused cancer in two users.

Bayer announced last month that more than 13,000 lawsuits related to the weedkiller had been launched in the US.

Monday's stunning verdict came as Bayer admitted that its subsidiary Monsanto kept lists of high-profile people -- for or against pesticides -- in France and likely other European countries.

Bayer apologised on Sunday after it emerged that Monsanto had a PR agency collate lists of French politicians, scientists and journalists, with their views on pesticides and GM crops.

French authorities have opened a preliminary inquiry into the claims.

"It is clear that we apologise for what has come to light in France," Matthias Berninger, Bayer's head of public affairs, told journalists in a conference call.

Bayer has said that more than 13,000 lawsuits related to its 

glyphosate-based weedkiller Roundup have been launched in the 

US (AFP Photo/Alain BOMMENEL, Laurence SAUBADU, Kun TIAN)

But he admitted that "it's very likely that such lists also exist in other European countries."

"We consider what we have seen so far to be completely inappropriate," he said.

"We were of the opinion that the reports of these dealings with journalists, politicians and activists are not in order and not in agreement with what Bayer stands for."

Hidden costs

The German agro-chemicals and drugs giant finalised its massive acquisition of Monsanto last year, but the blockbuster purchase has turned out to be plagued with other massive costs.

Just two months after the acquisition was completed, Monsanto lost a case to a school groundskeeper suffering from terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He had sued the company over the glyphosate weedkillers Roundup and Ranger Pro.

Monsanto was initially ordered to pay $289 million to the groundskeeper, before the damages were reduced to $78.5 million.

In March, the company lost another case to an American retiree who blames his cancer on the weedkiller, and was ordered by a court to pay $80 million to the plaintiff.

Bayer is appealing both cases.

Supreme court upholds sentence for man who helped mother, 99, to die

DutchNews, April 16, 2019

An elderly man who helped his 99-year-old mother to die 10 years ago has had his six month suspended jail sentence upheld by the Supreme Court, ending a lengthy legal process. 

Albert Heringa (75) was earlier cleared on all charges but the Supreme Court said in March 2017 there should be a retrial because euthanasia carried out by someone other than a doctor must be subject to ‘very strict rules’. 

In the subsequent trial, Heringa was sentenced to a six month suspended jail term, which he appealed. That conviction has now been confirmed. 

Heringa’s lawyer Tim Vis told website Nu.nl that he was disappointed with the ruling. ‘We will consider the verdict carefully and may look at approaching the European court for human rights in Strasburg,’ he said. 

Lethal dose 

Heringa decided to help his mother die when doctors refused her request to administer a lethal dose of medication. 

He filmed his mother, who was almost blind and suffering from crippling back pains, as he helped her take the pills that would kill her. She had been secretly storing up the pills for some time. 

The footage featured in a documentary called De laatste wens van Moek (Mum’s final wish) which was broadcast in 2010.

Germany's highest court reopens painful debate on assisted suicidehttps://t.co/Gu0219lu2z pic.twitter.com/07mpBif8N4

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 16 april 2019

Canadian province to presume consent for organ donations

Yahoo – AFP, April 3, 2019

Nova Scotia already has one of the highest organ donation rates of any province
in Canada, but officials say it is still not high enough to meet demand (AFP Photo/
PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU)

Ottawa (AFP) - Canada's province of Nova Scotia has proposed a law that would presume all citizens consent to being organ donors unless they opt out, breaking new ground in North America.

Unveiled Tuesday and assured of passage by the province's ruling Liberals, the bill would flip the current practice in Nova Scotia of requiring signed consent before a person's organs can be harvested after death.

Under the proposed law, consent would be assumed unless a person has actively opted out.

The province already has one of the highest organ donation rates in the country, but officials said it is still not enough to meet demand.

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil "was concerned that people on wait lists for these life-saving transplants had passed away, and this seemed like a reasonable step to try to address this issue," spokesman David Jackson told AFP.

It is expected to take 18 months to work its way through the legislative process and go into effect.

As early as next week, locals will be given an opportunity to comment on the proposed law at legislative committee hearings, while the province steps up public awareness and medical training over the coming year "to increase capacity in the system," he said.

"It'll be a significant push to increase transplants."

Cindy Ryan, who received two liver transplants since 2013 after a virus attacked her own, was on hand for the bill's unveiling.

She told local media the life-saving transplants allowed her to see her children graduate school and start careers, marry her current husband and celebrate her 50th birthday.

"So many changes in my life, so many things to be grateful for every day, and all because someone I'll never have the honor to meet gave me the most generous gift of all -- the gift of organ donation, the gift of life," she told public broadcaster CBC.

"Recyle yourself, together we live on," reads a tattoo on her arm.

Currently in Nova Scotia, prospective donors carry wallet card identifying themselves as such so hospitals can know they can harvest their organs when they die.

Other countries including Belgium, France and Spain saw their respective donations rise after adopting systems like the one being proposed for Nova Scotia.

On Monday, Germany, which has about 10,000 patients awaiting organ transplants, became the latest EU nation to consider adopting the principle of presumed consent.

Critics warned that the practice amounts to turning patients into spare parts.

Juveniles and persons unable to consent for themselves would be excluded from the Nova Scotia law.

Related Articles:

Germany debates 'presumed consent' to boost organ donations

Dutch senate votes in favour of ‘yes unless’ organ donor system

Dutch MPs vote for ‘yes unless’ organ donor register

Germany debates 'presumed consent' to boost organ donations

Yahoo – AFP, April 1, 2019

German Health Minister Jens Spahn holds a new donor card as the government tries
to reduce Germany's current backlog of about 10,000 patients awaiting transplant
organs (AFP Photo/Tobias SCHWARZ)

Berlin (AFP) - Germany's health minister Monday pushed an initiative to boost the availability of transplant organs by making everyone a potential donor after death unless they have expressly objected.

The aim of the presumed-consent rule is to reduce Germany's current backlog of about 10,000 patients awaiting transplant organs -- and the about 2,000 deaths a year of those who wait in vain.

Under the new proposal, citizens would be asked to state whether they object to having their organs or tissue harvested after they are pronounced brain dead.

Those who say "no" would be listed in a national registry run by the health ministry, while all others would be considered potential donors -- a principle in place across most of the European Union.

This would spell a reversal of Germany's current rules, which ask people to state their consent to becoming organ donors.

Close relatives would still be able to block the taking of organs if they convincingly argue that the deceased would have objected.

Health Minister Jens Spahn of the centre-right CDU said there are about 10,000 patients waiting for transplant organs and that 2017 had seen a record-low of fewer than 800 donations.

"Anyone of us could be in need of an organ tomorrow," Spahn said at a Berlin press conference, presenting the plan with lawmakers from the conservative CSU, the Social Democrats (SPD) and the far-left Die Linke party.

Ethics debate

Spahn said Germany's potential number of organ donors is far higher as surveys had shown that over 80 percent of respondents supported the idea in theory.

Under current rules, people can sign an organ donor card and carry it in their wallets so that if they die, hospitals know they are allowed to harvest their organs.

Only about 30 percent of Germans carry such a donor card.

"We have about 10 times more people on the waiting list for an organ than the number of organs that are transplanted per year," said the SPD's Karl Lauterbach.

"Every year about 2,000 people on the waiting list die."

Some lawmakers have objected to the initiative.

The CSU's Stephan Pilsinger labelled Spahn's plan "ethically questionable" and said it amounted to turning patients into "spare parts warehouses".

Under the plan, presented jointly with Green party co-leader Annalena Baerbock, citizens would be regularly questioned whether they want to be donors.

This could be done when they extend their identity papers or during routine medical visits.

Related Articles:

Dutch senate votes in favour of ‘yes unless’ organ donor system

Dutch MPs vote for ‘yes unless’ organ donor register

Bayer to cut 12,000 jobs after Monsanto takeover

AFP, 29 November 2018

The planned job cuts will affect about one in every ten of the group's 118,200
posts. AFP-File/Patrick Stollarz

German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer said Thursday it would slash 12,000 jobs in a major restructuring following the mammoth takeover of Monsanto, enabling it to save 2.6 billion euros ($3 billion) a year from 2022.

The planned job cuts will affect about one in every ten of the group's 118,200 posts, "a significant number of them in Germany", said the group in a statement.

Bayer swallowed Monsanto in one of Germany's biggest ever corporate takeovers at a cost of $63 billion in June.

But barely two months later, a court ruling in the US left Bayer with multi-million-dollar damages to pay as the judge found that its newly acquired subsidiary Monsanto should have warned a user about cancer risks from its herbicide Roundup.

Announcing details of the restructuring, Bayer said it planned to exit its animal health business, in order to concentrate resources on its core businesses of pharmaceuticals, consumer health and crop science.

It is also looking at letting go of its Coppertone sun care brand and Dr. Scholl's foot care product line.

Following the tie-up with Monsanto, the group's crop science division will be among the hardest hit by the job cuts, with 4,100 posts to go.

The company said it expected to complete trimming its headcount by the end of 2021.

"These changes are necessary and lay the foundation for Bayer to enhance its performance and agility. With these measures, we aim to take full advantage of the growth potential for our businesses," said Werner Baumann, Bayer board chairman.

Glyphosate fears

Investors gave a muted response to Bayer's announcement, with shares in the group closing down 0.72 percent to 63.77 euros against a flat DAX index.

Investors have been nervously watching the group since the cancer ruling in the US over Monsanto's leading product Roundup, which contains glyphosate.

Investors have been nervously watching the group since the cancer ruling in the
US over Monsanto's leading product Roundup, which contains glyphosate.
AFP/File / JOSH EDELSON

Chemical campaigners and politicians in the US and Europe argue that glyphosate causes cancer, although Bayer points to scientific studies finding no connection.

In October, a San Francisco judge upheld a jury verdict that found Monsanto liable for not warning a groundskeeper that its weed killer product Roundup might cause cancer, but slashed the damages award to $78 million from the initial $289 million.

By the end of last month, the US subsidiary was facing 9,300 cases over glyphosate.

But Baumann had stuck to its confident outlook in integrating Monsanto.

He acknowledged that more lawsuits could come, but reiterated that Bayer would "defend ourselves with all means available."

German MPs show Nutella 'red card' over World Cup giveaway

Yahoo – AFP, Jul 18, 2018

Customers would have to cart home 35 jars of Nutella to gather enough points for a football
printed with the signatures of Germany's World Cup team (AFP Photo/DAMIEN MEYER)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German MPs have blasted a World Cup promotion by Nutella chocolate spread, after they worked out people would have to scoff almost 16 kilos of the sugary treat to earn a football.

"Once again, the food industry has used the football World Cup to market sweets to children," Greens party MP Renate Kuenast told AFP Tuesday as she and other lawmakers complained to Germany's advertising council.

"It's a red card for Ferrero's Nutella," she added, referring to the Italian manufacturer.

Customers would have to cart home 35 jars of Nutella to gather enough points for a football printed with the signatures of Germany's World Cup team.

That adds up to "15.75 kilos (34.7 pounds) of Nutella, nine kilos of sugar, five kilos of fat, 85,000 calories and 97.65 euros ($113.60)" Kuenast and other MPs wrote to the advertising authority.

They further charged that Ferrero had "exploited kids' special trust" in their favourite football stars by printing their photos on collectible cards.

"We have nothing against the product -- if people like it, they should eat it -- but one shouldn't suggest to children that it has something to do with being sporty, active or healthy," the MPs said.

Kuenast and the other lawmakers hope the advertising council, an industry-run body that watches for ethical breaches in advertising, will block the campaign and issue a warning to Ferrero's German division.

Liberal politicians open to idea of assisted suicide for under-75s

DutchNews, March 3, 2017

Politicians have suggested that an assisted suicide bill for the over-75s could in future possibly apply to younger people, reports NOS broadcaster. 

On television programme Nieuwsuur on Thursday evening, Alexander Pechtold, head of the liberal democratic D66, said he personally believed that this option should be open regardless of age. 

Pia Dijkstra, a member of his party has brought a private members bill, proposing to make it legal – with certain safeguards – to arrange the death of anyone over 75 with an ‘intrinsic and consistent’ wish to die. 

Last year the government announced that it wanted to introduce such assisted suicide legislation, despite a report by an independent committee of experts recommending against legal euthanasia for those who consider their lives to be completed. 

Euthanasia was legalised in the Netherlands in 2002 for those over 12 experiencing ‘hopeless and unbearable suffering’, who want to die and have come to the conclusion independently. 

In answer to a question from a 57-year-old man who said he wants to die, Pechtold said the time was not ripe for a broader law, but that he was personally in favour. ‘I think that in a civilization, thoughts about death are for the individual,’ he said. ‘You didn’t ask to be put upon this earth and if you say – with full understanding – that this is enough…That is my personal opinion.’ 

But, he added, ‘We now have support for this initiative [by Pia Dijkstra]. In order not to disrupt this support, we need to take it step by step.’ 

Although Christian parties reacted in shock to Pechtold’s personal opinion, Liberal VVD MP Arno Rutte – whose party is currently in government – agreed. He told NOS on Friday: ‘It would be good if it were possible for people who consider their lives to be completed to have a way to end their lives in a dignified manner,’ he said. 

Related Articles:

Assisted dying could be legalised for over-75s who have had ‘enough of life’

German Federal Court rules patients should have access to life-ending drugs - New

The Netherlands to increase exports medical marijuana

DutchNews, December 2, 2016

The Netherlands is poised to increase its export of medical marijuana, cabinet sources have told the Telegraaf. 

The paper said the cabinet is ready to give the green light to an increase in exports to meet the growing demand for medical marijuana in Germany. 

Medical marijuana, grown by a government agency, is currently exported to Italy, Finland and Germany, the paper said. 

The current export limit is 100 kilos but this will soon be increased 350 kilos and go up again to 700 kilos in 2019, the Telegraaf said. 

Until now, the production of medical marijuana has cost more than is reaped in sales but the increase in exports will generate cash for the treasury, the Telegraaf said. 

Medical marijuana is not an official medicine in the Netherlands and is not included in the basic health insurance policy. However, the five licenced brands on the Dutch market, produced by the Bedrocan company, are distributed via pharmacies.

Related Article:

VVD changes sides on marijuana cultivation, clears way for regulation

France opens first safe injection space in Paris for drug addicts

France has joined several other European countries in allowing drug users to shoot intravenous drugs in sanitary conditions. Supporters have argued it reduces disease, while detractors say it 'trivializes' addiction.

Deutsche Welle, 11 Oct 2016

France announced on Tuesday that it will open its first supervised safe space for drug users in northern Paris. The decision comes after years of acrimonious opposition from conservative politicians.

The room, which opens on Friday, will give drug addicts clean needles as well as access to counseling and medical services as part of the Lariboisiere Hospital, near the city's busy Gare du Nord train station, where drug dealing and use is common.

Health Minister Marisol Touraine praised the safe-injection room as an "innovative and courageous response to a health emergency situation."

Touraine also emphasized the need to specifically reach out to marginalized populations. It will be "a very important moment in the fight against the scourge of addiction."

The center expects to welcome
between 100 to 200 addicts a day

First pioneered by Switzerland in 1986, France now joins countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Canada in granting addicts access to medically supervised injection spaces. There are plans to open similar rooms in Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, told the press that she felt "very moved

and very proud because what's being done here is necessary, necessary for the people who are in complete disarray, because they know they have a door they can enter."

Opposition sees little benefit

For years, conservative lawmakers fought the creation of the safe injection site because they argued it trivialized drug use and could raise security concerns.

"The only acceptable policy remains helping people into ending drug usage," said conservative city council members in a joint statement.

There have also been sporadic protests in some Parisian neighborhoods against having such a facility in their backyard.

"No to an injection room in a
residential area" reads one banner

According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, safe-injection sites have been linked to reductions in disease-spreading behavior such as needle sharing, and an increase in addicts seeking counseling and rehabilitation services. In some cities, it has also been connected to a decrease in drug deaths and drug-related violence.

While overarching statistics as to the benefits of safe-injection sites can be difficult to compile, there is no evidence to suggest, as some French lawmakers have, that the existence of the safe rooms lead to an increase in drug use or violence.

es/jm (AP, AFP, Reuters)