Impact of a medically supervised safer injection facility on community drug use patterns: a before and after study

Illicit use of injected drugs is linked with high rates of HIV infection and fatal overdose, as well as community concerns about public drug use. Supervised injecting facilities have been proposed as a potential solution, but fears have been raised that they might encourage drug use.

Recently reported benefits of supervised injecting facilities on drug users’ high risk behaviours and on public order do not seem to have been offset by negative community impacts.