Friday, August 17, 2018

Safe Injection Sites

 

I wrote an op-ed this month that was published by the Hartford Courant.

Insight: I See What Heroin Does. Let People Shoot Up Safely

Included was a checklist:

5 Things to Know About Heroin Addiction

I read an article a few days later that said that when called an "overdose prevention site," as opposed to a "safe injection site" people were much more likely to support the concept.

Support increases when opioid 'safe consumption sites' called 'overdose prevention sites'

For me the bottom line is harm reduction.  We may not be able to stop people from using heroin, we can at least mitigate some of the harmful effects of it.  Safe Injection Sites/Overdose Prevention Sites have been proven to keep people alive and get some of them into treatment.  We can help prevent the spread of disease and keep our streets cleaner.