Vancouver’s supervised injection site, the first in North America, opened 13 years ago. What’s changed?

published on March 20, 2016 by Douglas Quan in The National Post

VANCOUVER – On a recent afternoon, a woman sat on the sidewalk, steps from this city’s supervised drug-injection facility, Insite, pant leg rolled up, needle in hand. A young man walked by and casually offered a reporter a ball of speed. A short time later, three police cars swooped in to arrest a hoodied man for allegedly wielding a hammer in a nearby alley during a suspected drug-induced frenzy.

Thirteen years after this facility, North America’s first, opened in the Downtown Eastside with an emphasis on harm reduction over treatment – a model now being contemplated in several Canadian cities – one might be tempted to wonder: what’s changed?

A lot, insist Insite staff, academics, and area residents, who point to a reduction in overdose deaths and the spread of disease in the neighbourhood.

…

The work of Insite staff has, without question, paid off, said Thomas Kerr, director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

“The evidence is pretty clear. There’s no real serious academic debate.”

Kerr co-authored a 2011 study that showed overdose deaths in the immediate area fell 35 per cent during the first two years of operation.

In a 2007 study, Kerr and his colleagues surveyed more than 1,000 Insite clients. A majority reported being less rushed when injecting, were injecting less frequently outdoors, and were more careful about syringe disposal.