Safe injection site

Safe injection sites (also known as Supervised injection sites) are places for intravenous injectors of illegal drugs to use their drugs in a controlled and monitored environment.

However, they are the subject of much controversy. Proponents argue that these spaces save lives and improve hygiene for injecting drug users and act as a harm reduction strategy for the community overall by reducing the overdose factor, and prevalence of blood-borne diseases. Opponents state that sites send the message that the government promotes illegal drug use, and that the sites themselves are unnecessary, costly, and contribute to crime in the area which they are situated.

In North America, the first safe injection site, Insite, was established in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver, British Columbia in late 2003. As of early 2006, it has more than 7,000 participants registered, and staff have assisted in preventing over 200 overdoses.

At the other end of the spectrum from the safe injection site is the "shooting gallery", an unregulated typically unclean indoor space frequented by drug users and often prostitutes.[1]

## Notes

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1. ↑ Chris Barrish (10 June 2006). "To stop AIDS 'breeding ground' needle exchange a must, many say". The News Journal. pp. A1, A5. Retrieved 10 June 2006. Note: this article contains a picture of the interior of a "shooting gallery"

## External links

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* Homepage for Insite
* Vancouver Coastal Health
* Fact sheets on harm reduction strategies for the injection of illicit drugs
* Canadian Encyclopedia, Macleans Articles: Vancouver's Safe-Injection Sites Controversy
* Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
* "Making a Point: What a Canadian Safe Injection Site May Look Like" Illustrative feature from CBC Radio 3 Magazine. (Flash, Feb 2003)

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