Pushing the Envelope: Supervised Injection Facilities and Other Good Ideas

A Supervised Injection Facility (SIF) is a place where people who inject illegal drugs can do so in a safe place – off the streets, with access to health services. Evaluations of these facilities have consistently demonstrated that they are effective in reducing new HIV infections, overdose deaths, and public nuisance – and that they do not increase drug use or criminal activity. As of 2010, there were 92 such facilities operating in 61 cities around the world – and even a few behind prison walls – but none in the United States. What’s the story behind North America’s only SIF in Vancouver, efforts to establish SIFs in the Bronx and San Francisco, a new SIF-on-wheels in Denmark, and other strategies that push the envelope in harm reduction?