https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/368/firsthome.shtml

Where else but Holland? The country that brought the world coffee shop weed sales and sensible harm reduction policies is at again. According to the UK newspaper The Scotsman, the world's first retirement home for drug addicts has opened in Rotterdam, with plans for more on the way.

Seniorenpand looks like an ordinary retirement home, with comfy sofas huddled around a TV set in the lounge, and shelves nearby filled with paperbacks and puzzles. But "in the bedrooms, the elderly get high on heroin and cocaine," the Scotsman breathlessly reported.

While Seniorenpand does not provide drugs for its residents, neither does it seek to stop them from procuring their own and using them in their rooms. The home is funded by the city of Rotterdam and a semi-private medical foundation. Similar junkie retirement homes are planned for Amsterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague, and policymakers from around Europe are watching with interest, according to the Scotsman.

Such homes are a godsend for aging addicts who may be unable to fend for themselves on the streets any longer but are unwelcome at traditional nursing homes. "If it weren't for this place, I would be dead and buried now," said Gert-Jan, 62, who uses a walking frame to get around. "This is a real home for me. I have been using drugs most of my adult life, and I can't stop now," he said. "Being old doesn't mean your addiction just goes away."

Ironically, the problem of aging addicts in Holland is acute precisely because the Dutch state treats them well enough that they survive into old age. Addicts receive free medical care and methadone if they desire it, and drug use death rates are the lowest in Europe. Half of Dutch drug users are now over 40, with many in their 60s.

The main aim of Seniorenpand is to help drug users live out their final years in comfort and dignity. Residents are encouraged to use fewer drugs, but the choice is theirs. "We do not deal drugs to the residents, but we don't forbid them to use them either," said Alexander Hogendoorn, the home's manager. "Some people reach a point where their addiction is irreversible, so our goal is to give them some stability and quality of life until the end comes."

It sounds so damnably Dutch, doesn't it? So reasonable, so sensible.

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