The authors of a new commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine come out strong in support of supervised injection facilities, or SIFs. They say that SIFs save lives by bringing addiction out of the shadows. The evidence suggests they may be right.

SIFs offer sterile injecting equipment and a hygienic environment for medically supervised injection of drugs obtained off-site. They also offer education about reducing harms, access to life-saving naloxone, and connection to primary health care services, counseling, and treatment for substance use disorders. Approximately 100 SIFs in 11 countries across Europe, North America, and Australia have been studied for decades. Over 100 peer-reviewed studies on SIFs offer compelling evidence that they reduce mortality, reduce overdose, and increase safer injection behaviors, while increasing access to addiction treatment. At the same time, research has shown that SIFs do not increase public disorder or attract drug-related crime to an area or increase relapse rates.

The authors suggest that it's time for the United States to pilot the use of SIFs as part of a multi-pronged approach to reducing opioid overdose deaths. Piloting SIFs would allow researchers to study the impact of such facilities while providing despairing communities with an additional strategy to mitigate overdose deaths and connect people to treatment.