Implementing Overdose Prevention Sites in Canadian Prisons
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Added on  2022/11/25
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This assignment discusses the implementation of overdose prevention sites in Canadian prisons and their impact on tackling the opioid crisis. It explores the positive and negative effects of introducing these sites and analyzes their overall impact.
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Running head: CRIMINAL LAW Criminal Law Name of the Student Name of the University Authors Note
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1CRIMINAL LAW Essay: Introduction: The Canadian Correctional Service is planning to establish an overdose preventing site as an alternate option to tackle the opioid crisis. Since the declaration of the drug related overdosesaspublichealthemergencyinAprilof2016inCanada,sanctioningand implementing of the overdose prevention sites (OPSs) have been facilitated. Overdose prevention sites include health service supplying injections under supervision and instant overdose responses (Bardwell et al., 2017). In this assignment, the effect of introducing the overdose preventing sites inside the correctional homes has been discussed. It also focusses on the problem regarding how the incarcerated persons in Canada who are drug addicts are dealt with. In this paper, firstly, the positive effects of such implementation will be discussed. Then, the negative effects will be discussed. Considering both of these, the final impact will be analysed. Discussion: The assignment is concerned with the implementing the overdose prevention sites and considers it as a proper way to control as well as uproot overdose deaths due to injection drug use (Wallace, Pagan & Pauly, 2019). It is known that drug use affects everyone. Drug use through injection is a significant health issue that has important effect on community members using drugs and also their families. The effect can be in the form of death or disability due to overdose, spreading infectious disease, poor mental condition, incarceration and public space degradation. Over dose prevention sites allow easy to access, life saving harm reduction services in an environment which is free from any stigma for reducing the health effects and keeping the individuals, their families in a safe environment (Boyd et al., 2018). They also helped to
2CRIMINAL LAW reduce increasing number of deaths caused due to opioid overdose. These sites allows to the drug addicts injections under supervision, harm reducing supplies like clean syringes, needles, disposal of used supplies, prevention of overdose and intervention in case of overdose. These sites are also required to meet the necessary conditions for approval and will operate for a period of 3 to 6 months. Such sites are funded usually by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. In Canada, the Overdose Prevention Sites are legalised by the Federal Government. Their operation also requires approval from the Federal Government, granted with legal exemption, under section 56 of theControlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) by the Federal Minister of Health. In fact, changes have been made by the federal government to expand the ability of the provinces to refer to the increasing crisis of opioid. As per the federal policy, provinces that were experiencing emergency in public health can ask for exemption under the provisions of the federal law for creating Overdose Prevention Sites on a temporary basis. While responding to such request of change in policy of federal government, the Health Minister may write a letter to the Federal Health Minister to consider the health emergency because of the opioid issue (Ford, 2018). The letter may also request the Federal Government to announce the approval and funding of the overdose prevention sites. The reasons behind setting of Overdose Prevention Sites are many and have to be understood critically. These sites form a part of greater harm reducing approach which drug overdoses supports good health as a right of any human. These sites allow people pre obtained doses of drugs and inject those addicted peoples in a clean place under a clean environment under close supervision of an experienced and trained staff. The aims of the Overdose Prevention Sites are as follows:
3CRIMINAL LAW 1.Saving lives of people by decreasing the fatal as well as non fatal drug overdose numbers by allowing education of safer use practices, prevention of overdose and also intervention, 2.Reducing the spreading of infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis C among people who use used syringes by providing supply of sterile injections, 3.Connecting people who are drug users with other social, health and treatment services like housing and other facilities, 4.Creating a safe community by causing the reduction of drug usage in public places and discarding used needles. In this part of the assignment, the disadvantages of setting up theseOverdose Prevention Sites will be discussed. Though the setting up of these Sites has many advantageous, it has some short comings too. These are follows: 1.TheOverdose Prevention Sites are said to operate in a particular time of a day, specifically from 6 pm to 11pm. Outside this time zone, the people are free to use these drugs. If they desire, they can use used syringes and thereby spread infectious diseases. 2.Medical supervisors and health care workers who are entrusted to supervise these Sites may not be available always, thus there can be a chance of unsupervised drug practice. 3.Moreover, it lacked continuity and worked during public health emergency only. Conclusion: Thus from the above discussion, it can be said that though setting ofOverdose Prevention Siteshas few drawbacks, it has more advantages. Hence it should be allowed in
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4CRIMINAL LAW the Canadian prisons to introduce overdose prevention sites in the correctional institutions. These sites also provide examples of novel service as well as nimble implementing procedure that amalgates the advantages of sanctioned injection service together with implementation community wise. Hence if it is allowed in Canada, it can set an example for other countries to follow it, especially in those countries that suffer from huge death rates caused due to over dosage of drugs.
5CRIMINAL LAW References: Ford, D. P. (2018). Support life-saving supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites: open letter to Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott. Boyd, J., Collins, A. B., Mayer, S., Maher, L., Kerr, T., & McNeil, R. (2018). Gendered violence and overdose prevention sites: a rapid ethnographic study during an overdose epidemic in Vancouver, Canada.Addiction,113(12), 2261-2270. Wallace, B., Pagan, F., & Pauly, B. B. (2019). The implementation of overdose prevention sitesasanovelandnimbleresponseduringanillegaldrugoverdosepublichealth emergency.International Journal of Drug Policy,66, 64-72. Bardwell, G., Collins, A. B., McNeil, R., & Boyd, J. (2017). Housing and overdose: an opportunityforthescale-upofoverdosepreventioninterventions?.Harmreduction journal,14(1), 77.