Majority Approve of Safe Injection Sites but…

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Majority Approve of Safe Injection Sites but…

…half say they don’t think a site would be welcomed in their neighbourhood

Toronto, April 11th, 2019 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1110 Torontonians 18 years of age or older, about two-thirds (64%) say they generally approve of safe injection sites in Toronto, with a quarter (26%) saying they disapprove. About 1 in 10 (11%) say they don’t know.

The majority says their neighbours would disapprove if a safe injection site was opened within a kilometre of their home

Half (53%) don’t believe their community would accept a safe injection site if one opened in their neighbourhood, saying that their neighbours would disapprove of such a siting.

Only one-fifth (19%) say their neighbours would approve if a safe injection site opened within a kilometer of their home, with a quarter (28%) saying they don’t know.

Respondents that approve of safe injection sites in general are far more likely than average (28%) to believe their neighbours would approve of a site in their neighbourhood, and slightly less likely to believe they would disapprove (40%).

Respondents that disapprove of safe injection sites in general are far more likely than average (87%) to say that their neighbors would disapprove of a site in their neighbourhood, and far less likely to say they would approve (1%).

Two-thirds disapprove of the decision to withdraw funding from some sites

Two-thirds (65%) say they disapprove of the decision to withdraw funding from a number of sites in the city, with a quarter (26%) saying they approve.

1 in 10 (9%) say they don’t know.

Majority think safe injection sites are effective at preventing opioid related deaths

Two-thirds (TOP2: 65%) say that safe injection sites are effective at reducing opioid related deaths, with 4 in 10 (37%) saying that they are very effective.

A quarter (BTM2: 23%) say that they are not effective, with about 1 in 10 (8%) saying they are not effective at all. 1 in 10 (12%) say they don’t know whether they are effective or not at preventing opioid deaths.

Majority think safe injection sites are effective at preventing opioid related deaths

Almost half (TOP2: 65%) say that safe injection sites are effective at reducing opioid related deaths, with 4 in 10 (37%) saying that they are very effective.

A quarter (BTM2: 23%) say that they are not effective, with about 1 in 10 (8%) saying they are not effective at all. 1 in 10 (12%) say they don’t know whether they are effective or not at preventing opioid deaths.

About half think people regularly use safe injection sites to access addictions information

About half (TOP2: 46%) say people regularly use safe injection sites to access information about addiction services, with about one-fifth (17%) saying they think they are used often.

About a quarter (BTM2: 23%) say they don’t think people use safe injection sites for information about addiction services, with about 1 in 10 (10%) saying they think they are rarely, if ever used for this purpose.

Respondents that approve of safe injection sites in general, are far more likely (TOP2: 61%) than average to believe that safe injection sites are used to access addictions services information regularly. 

Respondents that disapprove of safe injection sites in general, are far less likely than average (TOP2: 22%) to say that sites are used regularly for addiction services information, and are far more likely to say that they are not used regularly to access addiction information (BTM2: 50%).

A third (30%) say they do not know.

 

“It’s true that the majority of Torontonians approve of safe injection sites in general, but it’s also true that a majority says a site wouldn’t be welcomed in their neighbourhood,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “It suggests that people are conflicted on the issue: they know that safe injection sites serve a purpose, but they feel as though their community would prefer if the sites were outside of their own neighbourhood.”

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.