Bathrooms can provide private, seemingly safe spaces for people to use substances, especially when they are unable to access supervised consumption or overdose prevention sites. However, there can be serious risks to using substances in bathrooms, including overdosing alone and potentially not receiving lifesaving help in time. Restricting access to bathrooms or implementing measures to discourage substance use in bathrooms does not work. Rather, doing so increases risks for people who use substances, staff, and other people at risk of injury due to unsafe bathroom lighting, layout, and so forth. There are ways of making bathrooms safer for people who use substances. This toolkit will help you to do that.
Population: General Audiences
The Safer Bathroom Toolkit – Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research
OPC Info
The People Place and Health Collective (PPHC) of Brown University School of Public Health established this website as a nexus for research about overdose prevention centers. It includes a searchable database of all papers published on OPCs plus fact sheets, infographics, and other resources.
Supervised Injection Facilities as Harm Reduction: A Systematic Review
Supervised injection facilities in included studies were mostly associated with significant reductions in opioid overdose morbidity and mortality, significant improvements in injection behaviors and harm reduction, significant improvements in access to addiction treatment programs, and no increase or reductions in crime and public nuisance.
NC Health News article – NC experts explain how safe smoking kits reduce harm from drug use
Following the outrage over federal funding for “crack pipes,” we wanted to know: what are the benefits of providing supplies for safer drug use? Turns out there are many, but state and federal restrictions make it hard for those benefits to reach the public.
NACCHO presentation – Smoking Supplies: The Local Public Health Perspective on an Emerging Harm Reduction Strategy
The distribution of smoking supplies has emerged as a promising harm reduction strategy to engage people who use drugs, reduce overdoses, and prevent infectious diseases. In March 2023, NACCHO conducted a survey to better understand the implementation of smoking supplies, including the impact and benefits, factors that support this work, and barriers that undermine it. On July 31st, NACCHO shared the results of the survey and two organizations, The Phoenix Center and Public Health Madison Dane County, shared their experience with implementing smoking supplies. On this page you can find links to the webinar slides and recording here as well as a list of frequently asked questions and their answers.
R Street blog – Why Harm Reductionists Distribute Safer (Drug) Smoking Supplies
Evidence suggests that many people who use drugs want better access to safer smoking supplies and that many harm reductionists believe they are an important resource to offer their participants. This article takes a closer look at why that is.
Distribution of Safer Drug Smoking Supplies as a Public Health Strategy
In Washington State, as across the country, fentanyl has rapidly become a primary opioid in the illicit drug supply. Fentanyl, especially in its pill form, is most often smoked rather than injected, both by individuals who are new to opioid use and by those experienced in injecting black tar heroin. Along with a parallel increase in the use of methamphetamine, which is also commonly smoked, the prevalence of opioid and stimulant smoking is quickly overtaking injection as a primary and frequent route of administration. This brief describes the current landscape of safer smoking equipment distribution in Washington State and nationally, the evidence supporting this intervention, legal issues, and areas for further research.
ADAI presentation – More Than Just Pipes: Lessons from the Field About Safer Smoking Supplies
Speakers from the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance and the Dave Purchase Project discuss the public health benefits of distributing safer smoking supplies and best practices for establishing a distribution program.
XADAI presentation – More Than Just Pipes: Lessons from the Field About Safer Smoking Supplies
Distributing Safer Smoking Pipes Increases Engagement with Harm Reduction Services in the United States: Findings from the National Survey of Syringe Services Programs
Findings showed SSPs distributing safer smoking pipes had more participant engagement and naloxone distribution. To maximize their full individual and population-level health benefits, SSPs should be supported technically, legally, and financially to implement safer smoking supply distribution for their participants.
