Will Small

..We examined street-level policing in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver during the Olympic Winter games, to assess the potential impact on access to harm reduction services and injection-related risk behaviour...

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..In order to inform epidemiological research and prevention efforts, we conducted a qualitative study to investigate the initiation of injection drug use among street-involved youth in Vancouver, Canada...

..This article summarizes the body of evidence generated via VIDUS, discusses briefly the related human rights implications, and concludes with recommendations for action...

..The findings of this study emphasize the need for effective harm reduction programs that provide an appropriate response to the problem of injection drug use among inmates...

..Incarceration has been associated with a number of health-related harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of incarceration among community-based samples of IDU...

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..We assessed the effects of syringe exchange program (SEP) policy on rates of HIV risk behavior and HIV incidence among injection drug users...

..Drug market policing has been associated with various harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about instances in which drugs and injecting equipment are confiscated from IDU in the absence of a formal arrest...

..Few prospective studies are available on the relationship between incarceration and HIV risk among injection drug users (IDUs). The authors evaluated self-reported rates of syringe sharing and incarceration among a cohort of IDUs...

..We sought to evaluate the potential impact of incarceration on HIV risk behaviour among the IDU enrolled in a prospective cohort study...

..This risk factor remains poorly understood. The present study investigates this risk factor among Vancouver IDUs...

..Opposition to needle exchange programs has been fueled by a Vancouver study showing an association between frequent program use and elevated rates of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among injection drug users...

..This study sought to examine young people's perspectives regarding the evolution of their drug use in the context of a local drug scene in Vancouver, Canada...

..These findings indicate that a clinical trial of prescribed heroin should be able to enroll an appropriate sample of drug users and properly assess the treatment potential of prescribed opiate pharmacotherapy...

..Our findings point to the need for housing strategies that include safe, low threshold, harm reduction focused housing options for youth who engage in illicit substance use...

..We sought to identify factors associated with harmful microinjecting practices in a longitudinal cohort of IDU...

..We evaluated factors associated with public drug injection among a cohort of injection drug users (SEOSI) originally recruited from within Vancouver's supervised injecting facility (SIF)...

..Safer injection facilities (SIFs) constitute one such intervention, although little is known about the impact of such facilities on factors that mediate risk for overdose...

..We sought to qualitatively evaluate experiences with HAART among HIV-positive IDU who had been recently incarcerated within provincial prisons in British Columbia in order to identify factors influencing adherence to treatment...

..We examined whether North America's first SIF was attracting IDUs who were at greatest risk of overdose and blood-borne disease infection...

..A large-scale police "crackdown" to control illicit drug use in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside provided us with an opportunity to evaluate the effect...

..Restructuring policies that shape the operation of the SIF could enhance access to the facility and permit SIF services to better accommodate local drug use practices...

..Once initiation has occurred, the boundary between safety and risk quickly becomes difficult to navigate, and young people become highly vulnerable to numerous harms...

..Although the impact of SIFs in North America can only be quantified by scientific evaluation, these data indicate a high potential for immediate community and public health benefits if SIFs were presently available...

..22, 2003. Although similar facilities exist in a number of European cities and in Sydney, Australia, no standardized evaluations of their impact have been presented in the scientific literature...

..This study emphasizes that the facility enables contact with the healthcare system and thereby helps to facilitate the management of injection-related infections...

..These findings indicate the need for interventions that offset the risks associated with this dangerous practice...

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..Although this micro-environmental intervention serves to reduce risks common among women who inject drugs, additional interventions that address the structural forces producing and shaping violence and other risks are needed...

..This study sought to investigate IDU perspectives regarding the impact of supervised injection facility (SIF) use on access to health-care services...

..These findings suggest that novel interventions are needed to address the needs of this subpopulation of IDU...

..Modifying operating procedures and expanding the capacity of the current facility could address these barriers...

..We investigated the social structural factors that shape risks related to assisted injection and the harms that may result...

..The IST represents a unique drug-user-led response to the gaps in local harm reduction efforts including programmatic barriers to attending the local supervised injection facility...

..Possible facilitating strategies included mobile teams, increased security and regularity of drug stocks...

..Yet the quality of evidence on public injecting and related viral risk is variable, and is lacking in many countries such as the United Kingdom...