Overview
It is difficult to obtain accurate data on the prevalence and profile of injection drug use in Canada and internationally because it is an illegal activity. In addition, many IDUs do not have a stable address, thereby making them difficult to identify and track. Accordingly, most estimates of injection drug use are based on information obtained from treatment programs, coroners' reports of drug-related deaths, needle exchange programs, arrest reports and other secondary sources.
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Selected Readings
Discussion Forum: Supervised Injection Site Evaluative Research - Forum Summary Report [PDF]
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), March 2009
Vancouver's INSITE service and other Supervised injection sites: What has been learned from research? Final report of the Expert Advisory Committee
Health Canada, 2008
Summary of findings from the evaluation of a pilot medically supervised safer injecting facility [PDF]
Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), 175(11): 1399-1404, November 2006
I-TRACK: Enhanced Surveillance of Risk Behaviours Among Injecting Drug Users in Canada [PDF]
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), August 2006
The Report of the Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms [PDF]
Independent Working Group on Drug Consumption Rooms, U.K., May 2006
Prison Needle Exchange: Lessons from a Comprehensive Review of International Evidence and Experience [PDF]
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, April 2006
Assessing the Need for Prison-based Needle Exchange Programs in Canada: A Situational Analysis [PDF]
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), December 2005
Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection and Illicit Drug Use [PDF]
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA), March 2005
A Harm Reduction Approach for Injection Drug Users (IDUs), Position Statement [PDF]
Partnership of New Brunswick Community-Based AIDS Organizations, February 2005
Improving Our Health: Why is Canada Lagging Behind in Establishing Needle Exchange Programs in Prisons? [PDF]
Ontario Medical Association (OMA), October 2004
Changes in Public Order After the Opening of a Medically Supervised Safer Injecting Facility for Illicit Injection Drug Users
Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), 171(7): 731-75, September 2004
Sex Differences in Injecting Practices and Hepatitis C: A Systematic Review of the Literature
Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR), Vol. 30, No. 14, July 2004
Drug Consumption Rooms [PDF]
A Drugscope Briefing Paper, Beckley Foundation, 2004
Regional Variation in HIV Prevalence and Risk Behaviours in Ontario Injection Drug Users (IDU)
Canadian Journal of Public Health (CJPH), 94(6): 431-35, Nov-Dec 2003
(abstract available only)
Injection Drug Use in Edmonton's Inner City: A Multi-method Study [PDF]
Centre for Health Promotion Studies, University of Alberta, August 2003
Spreading the Light of Science - Guidelines on Harm Reduction Related to Injecting Drug Use
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2003
Related Resources
Hepatitis C Toolkit and Website (CATIE)
insite - North America's First Official Supervised Injection Site, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH)
North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI): North America's First Clinical Trial of Prescribed Heroin