Harm Reduction in Opioid Use Disorder: The Role of Safe Injection Facilities

Abstract

The opioid epidemic has reached critical levels in American society. By affecting all demographics and socioeconomic levels, it has led to unprecedented numbers of overdoses and deaths while simultaneously burdening our healthcare system. Current policy towards opioid use disorder centers on medication and rehabilitation with the ultimate goal of long-term recovery and abstinence. However, as more studies have emerged over the past few years regarding substance use disorders, the idea of harm reduction as a potential method to mitigate the negative effects of opioid use disorder has grown from the public health sector and addiction advocates. Harm reduction policies encompass many avenues that include syringe exchange programs, widely available naloxone prescriptions, and more recently, the creation of safe injection facilities (SIFs). SIFs are a place for supervised and sterile injection use under the supervision of medical professionals. They have been growing in number in the international community and have shown promise in the United States as a means of providing healthcare to people with substance use disorders. This paper will demonstrate the efficacy and need for SIFs in the opioid use community of America.