ArticleHarm reduction journal2019
Implementation contexts and the impact of policing on access to supervised consumption services in Toronto, Canada: a qualitative comparative analysis.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Supervised consumption sites and population-level overdose mortality: a systematic review of recent evidence, 2016-2024.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Policing and access to harm reduction services among young people who use drugs and young Indigenous people who use drugs before and after the pilot implementation of decriminalization of personal possession.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Toronto's Supervised Consumption Sites and Local Crime.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Characterizing changes to harm reduction site operations in British Columbia following the implementation of the decriminalization of drugs: Findings from a provincial survey.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Four decades of overdose prevention centres: lessons for the future from a realist review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Review
- Overdose prevention centres as spaces of safety, trust and inclusion: A causal pathway based on a realist review.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Review
- Accessibility gaps of physical supervised consumption sites in Canada motivating the use of overdose response technology/phone based virtual overdose response services: a retrospective cohort study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Awareness and knowledge of drug decriminalization among people who use drugs in British Columbia: a multi-method pre-implementation study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Planning and implementing community-based drug checking services in Scotland: a qualitative exploration using the consolidated framework for implementation research.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2024Article
- Beliefs, attitudes and experiences of virtual overdose monitoring services from the perspectives of people who use substances in Canada: a qualitative study.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- "Another tool in the toolkit"-Perceptions, suggestions, and concerns of emergency service providers about the implementation of a supervised consumption site.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- Community partner perspectives on the implementation of a novel safer supply program in Canada: a qualitative study of the MySafe Project.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Between Care and Control: Examining Surveillance Practices in Harm Reduction.Contemporary drug problems · 2023Article
- The "goldfish bowl": a qualitative study of the effects of heightened surveillance on people who use drugs in a rural and coastal Canadian setting.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- Challenges for drug checking services in Scotland: a qualitative exploration of police perceptions.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- A Realist Review of How Community-Based Drug Checking Services Could Be Designed and Implemented to Promote Engagement of People Who Use Drugs.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- "It Stays with You for Life": The Everyday Nature and Impact of Police Violence in Toronto's Inner-City.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Young People Who Use Drugs Views Toward the Power and Authority of Police Officers.Contemporary drug problems · 2022Article
- Service utilization patterns and characteristics among clients of integrated supervised consumption sites in Toronto, Canada.Harm reduction journal · 2022Article
- A qualitative study on overdose response in the era of COVID-19 and beyond: how to spot someone so they never have to use alone.Harm reduction journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSupervised consumption services (SCS) are being implemented across Canada in response to a variety of drug-related harms. We explored the implementation context of newly established SCS in Toronto and the role of policing in shaping program access by people who inject drugs (PWID).
methodsWe conducted one-to-one qualitative semi-structured interviews with 24 PWID. Participants were purposively recruited. Ethnographic observations were conducted at each of the study sites as well as in their respective neighbourhoods. Relevant policy documents were also reviewed.
resultsPolicing was overwhelmingly discussed by participants from both SCS sites. However, participant responses varied depending on the site in question. Subthemes from participant responses on policing at site #1 described neighbourhood police presence and fears of police harassment and drug arrests before, during, or after accessing SCS. Conversely, subthemes from participant responses on policing at site #2 described immunity and protection from police while using the SCS, as well as a lack of police presence or fears of police harassment and arrests. These differences in implementation contexts were largely shaped by differences in local neighbourhoods and drug scenes. Police policies highlighted federal laws protecting PWID within SCS, but also the exercise of discretion when applying the rule of law outside of these settings.
conclusionsParticipants' perspectives on, and experiences with, policing as they relate to accessing SCS were shaped by the implementation contexts of each SCS site and how neighbourhoods, drug scenes, and differences in policing practices affected service use. Our findings also demonstrate the disconnect between the goals of policing and those of SCS. Until larger structural barriers are addressed (e.g. criminalization), future SCS programming should consider the impact of policing on the SCS implementation context to improve client experience with, and access to, SCS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.