DCR in Paris : a constant experiment

Abstract submitted by an ENDCR Member, thematically linked to other Members submissions.
Since the opening of the DCR in 2016 our service has face many challenges. Being one of the only two to have open in France, our service is under great scrutiny from all angles. Despite the publication in 2021 of a long and thorough report on the opening of 2 DCRs in the whole country, this kind of service still has an experimental status, making us unsure of being able to continue our missions passed 2025.
During our intervention we would like to address the different adaptations we had to make through the years since our opening in 2016, whether it concerns new substances, new public or new types of relations with the local institutions. Our service had to go through a transition from opening with a team of activists pushing the limits to a more institutionalized team of new social workers. 
The evolution of the local context affected our connection with the local authorities through working on their representation of what our DCR could do for them. This collaboration took time to inforce and is questionned at every step of the evolution of the context of Paris. A good example for this is the lack of inhalation DCR in Paris and the great need for such a service.
During COVID we decided to close our inhalation room in order to protect people consuming in the space. After the peak of the crisis passed, we took the political stance to push for more inhalation consumption rooms to face the public consumption of crack in public spaces in Paris so far without success. 
However such a service is perceived it is a constant battle between objectives that are outside of the service we’re trying to provide (i.e public tranquility and public safety), a battle to obtain satisfying work conditions for our workforce (life work balance and spaces to think and cope with the daily tasks) and to create a reliable service for drug users in a constant evolution of the drug markets, and the repression that users face especially with the upcoming Olympic games that will be held in Paris this year.