British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Canada.
Int J Drug Policy. 2012 Mar;23(2):128-33. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.06.007. Epub 2011 Aug 31.
Police presence within street-based drug scenes has the potential to disrupt injection drug users' (IDUs) access to health services and prompt increased injection-related risk behaviour. We examined street-level policing in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver during the Olympic Winter games, to assess the potential impact on access to harm reduction services and injection-related risk behaviour.
We analysed data from observational activities documenting police and drug user behaviour, unstructured interviews with drug users in street settings (n=15), expert interviews with legal and health professionals (n=6), as well as utilisation statistics from a local supervised injection facility (SIF).
Although police presence was elevated within the DTES during the Olympics, there was little evidence to suggest that police activities influenced IDUs' access to health services or injection-related risk behaviour. SIF attendance during the Olympics was consistent with regular monthly patterns.
Police presence during the Olympics did not reduce access to health services amongst local IDUs or prompt increased injection-related risk behaviour. Increased cooperation between local law enforcement and public health bodies likely offset the potential for negative health consequences resulting from police activity.
在街头毒品场所部署警力有可能会妨碍注射吸毒者（IDUs）获得卫生服务的机会，并促使他们增加与注射有关的风险行为。我们在温哥华市中心东区（DTES）进行了一项研究，考察了在冬奥会期间的街头治安状况，以评估其对减少伤害服务的获取和与注射有关的风险行为的潜在影响。
我们分析了记录警察和吸毒者行为的观察活动数据、街头吸毒者的非结构化访谈（n=15）、法律和卫生专业人员的专家访谈（n=6），以及当地监督注射设施（SIF）的利用统计数据。
尽管在奥运会期间 DTES 地区的警察数量有所增加，但几乎没有证据表明警察活动影响了 IDUs 获得卫生服务或与注射有关的风险行为。在奥运会期间，SIF 的出勤率与每月的正常模式一致。
奥运会期间的警察存在并没有减少当地 IDUs 获得卫生服务的机会，也没有促使与注射有关的风险行为增加。当地执法机构与公共卫生机构之间增加合作，可能抵消了警察活动可能导致的负面健康后果。
