An Examination of Safe Injection Sites and Ethical Issues in Philadelphia, United States

Abstract

The opioid epidemic in the United States has been an ever-increasing public health crisis. Despite being a major issue in the United States for decades, relatively little action has been taken to address the opioid crisis. To mitigate the harm the opioid epidemic has caused in the United States, safe injection sites have emerged as a promising solution. Despite the exhaustive benefits of safe injection sites, including the reduction in the number of opioid overdose deaths, safe injection sites have faced opposition in the United States. Most of these concerns in the United States question the legality of safe injection sites, along with potential community implications. Through examining the ethics of safe injection sites from a Catholic social teaching perspective and performing an integrative literature review, safe injection sites are clearly ethical and would aid in respecting the dignity and life of people who inject drugs (PWID). With safe injection sites being ethical and recommendations in this paper to overcome concerns about safe injection sites, safe injection sites are a viable option to combat the opioid crisis in the United States.