Use of Safe Injection Site

The existence of safe injection sites has been a controversial topic since early 2000. Supporters argued that these medically supervised injection sites create a safe and non-judgemental place for drug users to consume the pre-obtained substance. It is an undeniable fact that these safe injection sites follow the harm reduction concept to reduce the consequences of recreational drug use in this inevitable circumstance, such as distributing clean equipment and overdose prevention. However, those in opposition to safe injection sites such as the former chief of Vancouver police department, Jamie Graham, challenged that this solution is ineffective as it is “the worst-case scenario for a drug user- total inability to quit and eventual death” (Graham, 2008). Opponents believe that safe injection sites are only a temporary solution to the opioid epidemic crisis because it sustains addiction by blurring the consequence of overdose; it undermines the effort to curb recreational drug use with no legal prosecution guarantee; and it takes the already limited resource from better solutions.

The safe injection sites are sustaining addiction when taking away the consequence of overdose- death. One of the most promoting features of the safe injection site is to revive drug users from an overdose, yet it can be perceived as a lack of punishment to those with poor choices. Adrienne Rosen, a mother whose daughter has struggled with addiction for 11 years indicated that taking away the consequence will not convince the addicts to quit. She elaborates that one of the reasons for addicts to quite is the fear of death, which is one of the major consequences of doing drugs. She then expresses that there is no need to make a cozy environment to promote the idea that drugs can be taken safely; this is nothing other than enabling (CBC News, 2016). In addition, the premiere of Toronto, Doug Ford, indicates that he’s “dead against” safe injection site as it is “keep feeding and feeding” them; he believes the focus should be on drug rehabilitation (Loriggio, 2018). Doug Ford is also the younger brother of former Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, who was found guilty of cocaine use. As family members to drug addicts, both Ford and Rosen oppose safe injection sites because they are hoping for a “clean” solution to their loved ones rather than sustaining them with addiction.

The existence of safe injection sites undermines the effort to curb drug use because it creates a grey area around federal law when it has no legal prosecution as long as it is used within these facilities. Federal laws are in place to confine people from illegal misconduct. Under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, punishment for people obtaining, possessing, using or giving illegal substances can be fined up to 2000 dollars and/ or can be imprisoned for up to seven years depending on the severity(Justice Law Canada, 2018). Therefore, no legal prosecution when using drug