Supervised Injection Sites

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses sanctioned supervised injection sites (SIS) in Canada where people may inject intravenous drugs under the supervision of trained medical staff, with clean syringes available for their use. The paper explores the reasoning behind this site and the ongoing arguments for and against its continuing operation. The paper supports the belief that drug use will continue and that at least users can be spared the harm inflicted by sharing non-sterile settings in a non-sanitary setting. The paper therefore concludes that the SIS is a sound, pragmatic drug policy that should be continued and developed further.

From the Paper:

"In the case of SIS, the reasoning is that drug addicts are going to inject themselves with illegal drugs anyway, so why not make the actual process safer? Especially given that much of the health damage associated with intravenous drug use derives from factors other than the drugs. For example, non-sterile needles cause death through infection, and shared needles cause diseases and death by passing on Hepatitis C, AIDS, etc. As Ezard (2001) points out, the discovery that HIV transmission is linked to injectable drugs "arguably spearheaded the harm reduction movement for illicit drug use" (p. 208). Moreover, many drug deaths are due to overdoses, and those who accidentally overdose in a SIS will be given medical assistance more promptly, and are thus more likely to survive."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Boyd, Neil. (1991). Can we just say no to a war against drugs? High Society, 1-14.
• Boyd, Neil. (1991). Where can we go from here? High Society, 1-14.
• Boyd, Neil. (1998). Rethinking our policy on cannabis. Policy Options, 31-33.
• Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, 1996.
• Erickson, Patricia G. (1998). Addicted to law: For a health directed drug policy. Policy Options, 21-24.

More papers on Supervised Injection Sites:

• Term Paper # 132068 : "Supervised Injection Sites"
• Persuasive Essay # 136877 : "Lethal Injection as Cruel and Unusual Punishment"
• Essay # 71582 : "Injection Drug Use"

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