UBC professor of medicine Thomas Kerr recounted the bumpy history of Vancouver’s supervised injection site, InSite in a Seattle Times op-ed.
Kerr said InSite’s existence didn’t lead to higher crime or massive numbers of new young drug users as feared by many. Instead, it reduced public disorder stemming from public drug use, and discouraged syringe sharing, which promotes the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.
Kerr suggested that implementing supervised injection facilities in the U.S., which is facing an epidemic of overdoses, may be an idea worth considering.
