Supervised Injection Facilities: Harm or Harm Reduction?

Supervised injection facilities (SIFs) are increasingly being discussed in the United States as a harm reduction strategy to reduce overdose deaths in the opioid epidemic. Senator William Brownsberger writes in favor of a framework for the legal operation of supervised injection facilities (SIFs) in Massachusetts. Faiz Kidwai unpacks some common myths about these facilities. Nurse Brianne Fitzgerald questions the values of SIFs: are they enabling drug users, or simply giving up hope on them? PHP Fellow Qing Wai Wong speaks with Cory Salzillo about the California State Sheriffs’ Association’s reservations on a California bill which proposes allowing for the creation of SIFs. Last, Leonard Glantz compares two health policy decisions based on moralism that led to a failure in harm reduction, arguing that moralism undermines the efforts of public health.

Feature image: Prepping a rig, Insite, the first legal supervised injection site in North America. Photo courtesy Vancouver Coastal Health.