Approximately 68.4 per cent of Prince George residents support the creation of a supervised injection clinic in the city, according to a recent survey by a team of UNBC students.
The political science students surveyed 171 people at four different locations on March 10 and March 11.
"We conclude there is significant support for a safe injection site in Prince George," student researcher Devon Flynn said.
Vancouver Coastal Health has operated the Insite Supervised Injection Site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside since 2003. Insite provides addicts with a place to inject their drugs off the street, clean needles and drug paraphernalia, medical services and information about addiction treatment options.
According to the UNBC poll, 72.5 per cent of respondents supported the general concept of supervised injection sites. Just over 59 per cent said they would support tax dollars being used to provide a safe injection site.
Of those surveyed, 25.7 per cent said such a clinic would result in less drug use in the city. Approximately 41 per cent said they didn't believe a clinic would have any impact on the number of drug users, while 11.7 per cent said a safe injection site would promote increased drug use.
Nearly 81.9 per cent said they believe a supervised injection clinic would reduce the spread of diseases amongst intravenous drug users.
UNBC student researcher Kassidy Woods said the research project was part of a class on Canadian public policy.
"We wanted to research a topic that is not only of interest to us, but important to the community," Woods said.
Student researcher Jeff Kormos said intravenous drug use, and the health impacts it has, is a very real issue for Prince George.
In 2009, Northern Health had the highest rate of hospitalizations in B.C. related to intravenous drug use: 121.7 hospitalizations per 1,000 population.
Research on the Insite clinic in Vancouver has shown lower numbers of people using drugs outdoors, less overdose cases and no increase in loitering near the facility, Kormos said.
The goal of the research is to help inform the public and policy makers in the community, he added.
City councillor Brian Skakun said he'd like to see the results of the poll presented to city council.
