Short Report
Impact of a medically supervised safer injecting facility on drug dealing and other drug-related crime
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* Corresponding author: Evan Wood ewood@cfenet.ubc.ca
1 British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul's Hospital, 608 - 1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada
2 Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 3300 - 950 West 10th Avene, Vancouver BC V5Z 4E3, Canada
Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2006, 1:13 doi:10.1186/1747-597X-1-13
Published: 8 May 2006Abstract
North America's first medically supervised safer injecting facility (SIF) recently opened in Vancouver, Canada. One of the concerns prior to the SIF's opening was that the facility might lead to a migration of drug activity and an increase in drug-related crime. Therefore, we examined crime rates in the neighborhood where the SIF is located in the year before versus the year after the SIF opened. No increases were seen with respect to drug trafficking (124 vs. 116) or assaults/robbery (174 vs. 180), although a decline in vehicle break-ins/vehicle theft was observed (302 vs. 227). The SIF was not associated with increased drug trafficking or crimes commonly linked to drug use.