The University of Lleida yesterday changed the lighting in a bathroom on the ground floor of the Rectorate and replaced the white light with intense blue fluorescent lights to discourage the consumption of injected drugs in that space. The measure has been applied in the most accessible toilet from the street, within a building that remains open during school hours and without access control.
A deterrent measure in a ground floor bathroom
The university made the decision after detecting in recent weeks a specific case of a person external to the UdL who was entering that bathroom to inject themselves. The change in lighting seeks to make difficult the localization of superficial veins, since this type of light complicates the vision of the venous network and acts as a deterrent element.
From the UdL they frame the action in the will to protect the university community. The intervention has concentrated on a specific area of the Rectorate, on the ground floor, as it is the bathroom with easier access for people outside the center.
"Action has been taken in the area where the person used to go, the most accessible bathroom from the street" - Spokesperson, University of Lleida
The university already applied this solution in Medicine
It is not the first time that the University of Lleida resorts to this system. The same measure had already been implemented in another bathroom of the Faculty of Medicine for the same reason. The previous experience, according to the university, was positive.
"It worked there, we hope it does in the Rectorate too" - Spokesperson, Universitat de Lleida
The UdL spokesperson specified that the doors of the Rectorate are open during teaching hours and that there is no access control, a circumstance that facilitates the entry of people external to the campus. From there, the university has opted for a concrete and limited response to the point where the problem had been detected.
The UdL will wait to assess if it expands measures
For now, the university does not foresee new actions. The intention is to first check if the change in lighting has an effect in this Rectorate bathroom before studying other decisions. For now, the intervention is limited to that ground floor restroom, where specific cases of injected consumption by external individuals were detected.