Do people who use drugs in England want an overdose prevention centre? Evidence from Sandwell

What is it about?

This community-based participatory study examined whether there is a local need for an overdose prevention centre (OPC) in Sandwell, England, by gathering qualitative evidence from people who use drugs in public and semi-public settings. OPCs, also called drug consumption rooms or supervised injection facilities, operate in around 20 countries and provide supervised, sterile environments for drug consumption with trained staff on hand to respond to overdoses. The research used peer researchers and street-based fieldwork to capture the views of people who currently inject drugs outside, away from formal services. Participants described how the constant threat of police encounters and public visibility forces rushed, unsafe injecting practices and causes injection-related injuries. They reported that an OPC would reduce overdose deaths, protect them from police-related trauma, and improve community relations by reducing visible drug use and drug-related litter.

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Why is it important?

England has among the highest drug-related death rates in Europe, and Sandwell sits within one of its most deprived areas. This study provides one of the first qualitative needs assessments of OPC demand from the perspective of people who use drugs in an English community, filling a critical evidence gap at a moment when the UK has just opened its first legal OPC in Glasgow and other cities are actively pursuing their own. The finding that police proximity and criminalization directly cause physical harm through rushed injecting is a significant public health argument for OPC implementation. The research also demonstrates the value of community-based participatory methods with peer researchers as the appropriate approach for generating credible, policy-relevant evidence on harm reduction need in marginalised populations.

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