ArticleHarm reduction journal2023
"There's absolutely no downside to this, I mean, except community opposition:" A qualitative study of the acceptability of vending machines for harm reduction.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Vending machines for reducing harm associated with substance use and use disorders, and co-occurring conditions: a systematic review.Harm reduction journal · 2025Pooled it
- Harm Reduction Vending Machines in Supportive Housing for Veterans.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- "Smart" harm reduction vending machines to improve public health: Evaluating the utilization.Journal of substance use and addiction treatment · 2026Article
- A mixed methods examination of organizational approaches to fentanyl test strip distribution and training across multiple states.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Acceptability and Appropriateness of Harm Reduction Vending Machines Compared to Syringe Service Programs in Appalachian Kentucky.Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs · 2026Article
- Harm reduction vending machines as safer supply-supporting infrastructure.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Preferences for harm reduction vending machine design among rural people who use drugs.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- Harm reduction self-efficacy and motivations for contactless supply access among a sample of syringe services program participants.Harm reduction journal · 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
- Discreet but accessible: a qualitative study with people who use drugs and service staff about the optimal design of a harm reduction vending machine in rural Kentucky.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Exploration of novel harm reduction approaches to increase client engagement (ENHANCE): protocol for a prospective cohort study.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Likelihood of using a harm reduction vending machine among rural people who inject drugs in Appalachian Kentucky.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- High-dose naloxone formulations are not as essential as we thought.Harm reduction journal · 2024Review
- "No-one just does drugs during business hours!": evaluation of a 24/7 primary needle and syringe program in St Kilda, Australia.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Years of life lost to drug overdose in the Latinx community during the most recent wave of overdose deaths.The American journal on addictions · 2023Article
- Prevalence and drug use correlates of inadvertent fentanyl exposure among individuals misusing drugs in seven U.S. states.Journal of addictive diseasesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVending machines for harm reduction (VMHR) are an innovative approach to deliver life-saving materials, information, and treatment for hard-to-reach populations, particularly for persons who inject drugs. The current study explores stakeholders' perspectives on the feasibility and acceptability of VMHR in Philadelphia.
methodsFrom October 2021 to February 2022, we conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with potential end users, staff, and leadership at a local federally qualified health center, and community members. Trained coders extracted themes from interview transcripts across four key domains: materials and logistics, location, access, and community introduction.
resultsInterviewees from all stakeholder groups endorsed using VMHR to provide supplies for wound care, fentanyl test strips, naloxone, and materials to connect individuals to treatment and other services. Dispensing syringes and medications for opioid use disorder were commonly endorsed by health center staff but were more controversial among potential end users. Even within stakeholder groups, views varied with respect to where to locate the machines, but most agreed that the machine should be placed in the highest drug use areas. Across stakeholder groups, interviewees suggested several strategies to introduce and gain community acceptance of VMHR, including community education, one-on-one conversations with community members, and coupling the machine with safe disposal of syringes and information to link individuals to treatment.
conclusionsStakeholders were generally receptive to VMHR. The current study findings are consistent with qualitative analyses from outside of the USA and contribute new ideas regarding the anticipated community response and best methods for introducing these machines to a community. With thoughtful planning and design, VMHR could be a feasible and acceptable modality to reduce death and disease transmission associated with the opioid and HIV epidemics in cities like Philadelphia.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.