Safe Injection Sites

¶ … Safe injection sites reduce harm in the community caused by drug addiction. Three search terms that can be used are: safe injection sites, addiction, harm reduction A source from the KU Library is probably a good source. On the Internet, there are still some academic journal articles that are published -- those are the best sources. There may be .gov or .org articles that provide statistics or other background information, or make an argumentative case.

For this subject, there may not be any .com sources, though it is possible that a news article will at least lead my search in a good direction. I would be quite wary, in general, of .com sources. Primary sources would include statistics and anecdotes from places that have safe injection sites about their experiences. There may even be interviews with addicts, former addicts, or health practitioners that can provide perspective on this issue.

The source that I have found is from the journal Addiction and the article is called "Prospects for scaled-up supervised injection facilities in Canada: the role of evidence in legal and political decision-making." I found this by entering "safe injection sites addiction" into Google Scholar. I had to add "addiction" because the first search without that word did not return hits relevant to this subject. It is a reliable source, published in a journal.

It supports my argument, that evidence should be used by politicians when writing laws regarding safe injection sites. The article discusses some of the challenges that the first safe injection site in North America faced. A new government, for example, threatened to withhold an exception that allowed the site to operate without police interference. The authors note that the government's objections were not based on evidence, even though the national health agency was gathering data to examine its outcomes (Hyshka, Bubela & Wild, 2013).

Unit 7: Thesis:: Safe injection sites reduce harm in the community caused by drug addiction.

Point 1: Addicts often engage in unsafe behaviors such as needle sharing, and are at serious risk of infection Point 2: Safe injection sites are a harm reduction tool, providing clean needles and a safe environment for addicts, and offer opportunities for detox and counseling Point 3: The evidence from existing safe injection sites is overwhelming in that they reduce harm in the community Objection: Government should not allow the use of illegal drugs for any reason Rebuttal: The moral argument is missing the point.

The point of health care is to reduce harm. By reducing the spread of AIDS, hepatitis and other diseases, safe injection sites lower the cost to government, reduce harm in the community and offer addicts a way out. Unit 8: Safe injection sites have been controversial since the first one opened in Vancouver in 2003. At issue is that these sites require the cooperation of government and law enforcement, in order to provide a safe environment for addicts.

The sites allow addicts a place to do their drugs, usually intravenous drugs, without judgment or threat by law enforcement, and they are provided.