Illicit Drug Use And Safe Injection Sites - 1450 Words

Illicit Drug Use and Safe Injection Sites: A Risk or a Benefit? Heroin, methamphetamine, and opioids have been around for centuries and the use of these drugs is not a new phenomenon. The use of injection drugs causes individual’s serious harm and have placed large expenses on the health care system. â€Å"Heroin, cocaine and other drugs kill around 0.2 million people each year, shattering families and bringing misery to thousands of other people† (United Nations iii); Because of-these incidents harm reduction strategies have been put in place to create a safer and more educated population, but it has only been a start. ‘Safe injection sites’ has become a well talked about term in the last decade. The term itself refers to a physical place†¦show more content†¦202). SIS provides an upstream approach thanks to investing in solving the current complications of IDUs. Overdoses are one of the high-risk problems when working with IDUs. Marshall et al. recorded that â€Å"[b]etween Jan 1, 2001, and Dec 31, 2005, 290 accidental illicit drug overdoses occurred within the city boundaries of Vancouver—an average of 1 ·1 per week† (1432). With SIS, the lack of understanding can first be addressed, followed by the precautions and knowledge the individuals can take away to prevent an overdose occurring personally or to another individual. Resources and support are available from the staff working at SIS, which would be lost without these injection sites creating relationships with health care workers. With the capability for healthcare providers to interact with this population, the ability to directly improve individual lives, and progress quality of life is researched and argued by authorities on the matter to occur. Sites such as ‘Insight’ were originally opened because of the growing awareness surrounding the high rates of diseases intravenous drug use is known to cause, such as HIV and the Hepatitis C virus. With these sites leveraged as a harm reduction strategy, the purpose is to provide education about safe drug injection practices and the ways to prevent avoidable diseases and health threatening outcomes. SIS provides clean needles which reduce the risk of reusing needlesShow MoreRelatedCause And Effect Of Opioids In Canada1607 Words   |  7 Pagesyear, a jump of nearly 100 percent over the same period last year. In Alberta over 100 deaths were attributed to fentanyl overdose between January and March of this year. Similar trends are seen across the country. Literature Review The medicinal use of opioids like morphine, heroine, and codeine became widespread at the start of the last century. From the 1950’s onwards chemically synthesised opioids such as oxycodone were introduced for pain management. In the early part of the 1990s slow-releasedRead MoreSocial Issue : Safe Injection Sites1601 Words   |  7 Pagesexemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. This ruling allowed the Supervised Injection Site in Vancouver, InSite, to continue to operate. There are three aspects covered in this report in relation to Bill C-2: the social issue associated with it, a more in-depth description and analysis of this Bill, and the shortcomings and issues that currently exist in the policy. Understanding of the Social Issue: Safe Injection Sites Supervised injection sites are clean, safe and medically supervisedRead MoreTreatment Of Safe Injection Sites2107 Words   |  9 PagesThroughout Canada, many individuals unsafely use illicit substances that may result in disease or even death. The government has established safe injection sites in order to prevent addicts from spreading HIV or AIDS and even overdosing. The first safe injection site to be established was built in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada. At first, the site was operated under a waiver from the federal government that allowed the clinic to provide its services to drug abusers as part of a research projectRead MoreSafe Injection Sites1065 Words   |  5 Pagesdose of cocaine, heroin, and other drugs, oblivious to the daytime traffic on a nearby street. This is the day to day life of the drug users in downtown Vancouver; do you think there is nothing that can be done? Well, there is. Safe injections sites are a clean, safe, supervised environment wh ere drug users can inject their own drugs off the streets, and connect to addiction, health and community services. InSite is the first and only supervised injection site in North America (InSite for CommunityRead MoreInsite : A Supervised Injection Site1244 Words   |  5 PagesInsite, a supervised injection site, that first came about in 2003 to provide community members with safe and sterile products and a better place for the injection of drugs (Insite Supervised Injection, Home section, 2011, para. 1). After almost a decade, the issue still continues whether Insite should exist or close down? According to many sources, there is no clear cut on whether Insite decreases the death rate or actually increases the usage of drugs. There are so many things that could be arguedRead MoreBenefits Of Safe Injection Sites1804 Words   |  8 PagesSafe injection sites possess many salutary benefits related to public health safety of the drug using community. Safe injection sites provide a safe place for drug users to inject drugs into their bodies so they do not have to reuse needles and can also be supervised by nurses constantly while they do so. Insite is the sole safe injection site in all of Canada and the expansion of other facilities has been fiercely contested by policy makers not due to empirical criminological evidence, but simplyRead MoreThe Battle over Safe Injection Sites1938 Words   |  8 PagesBattle over Supervised Injection Sites In the 1990’s there was an epidemic of HIV outbreaks in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Injection drug users were found to be the leading cause of this, and a public health emergency was declared (Fafard, 2012). The â€Å"mortality and morbidity† resulting from this increasing injection drug use became a major political issue. This resulted in the adoption of harm reduction by the government as one of their four pillars of their drug strategy (Fafard, 2012)Read MoreNon-Injection Illicit Drugs In Efv1088 Words   |  5 PagesAccording to the guidelines for the use of antiretroviral agents in HIV-1-infected adults and adolescent, St Johns Wort should not be used with EFV, ETR, NVP, RPV because it lowers specifically NNRTI concentration in the body. In addition, the guideline says that, non-injection illicit drug use may facilitate sexual transmission of HIV. Injection and non-injection illicit drugs include the following: heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and club drugs (i .e., methamphetamine, ketamine, gammahydroxybutyrateRead MoreIncidence Of Lower Limb Essay1224 Words   |  5 PagesIncidence of Lower Limb Amputations in Management of Groin Pseudoaneurysms in Drug Addict Patients Thesis Submitted for partial fulfillment of MD degree in Vascular Surgery By Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Abdelrazek (M.B.B.Ch, M.Sc.) Supervised by Prof. Dr. Sherif Mohamed Sholkamy Professor of Vascular Surgery Faculty of Medicine – Ain Shams University Dr. Ahmed Farouk Mohamed Ass. Professor of Vascular Surgery Faculty of Medicine – Ain Shams University Dr. Karim Sabry Gohar Lecturer Vascular Surgery FacultyRead MoreThe Legalization Of Medical Marijuana2985 Words   |  12 PagesStates and in many other nations as well, drug policy and the rationale behind these policies have started to undergo a tremendous shift. This change in public policy is visible to most through the ongoing legislation across America regarding the legalization of medical marijuana in 23 states, and recreational cannabis use becoming legal in 4 states as well (Hanson, 2015). This shift in public policy marks a significant turning point in the view of drugs and drug culture in the United States and reflects