A heroin prescription trial: case studies from Montreal and Vancouver on crime and disorder in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
BACKGROUND
This study evaluates whether the instauration of a heroin prescription trial ('NAOMI') generated an impact on the occurrence of crime and disorder in surrounding areas. The clinical trial was initiated in Vancouver and Montreal in 2005, with the aim of assessing the benefits of heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) in Canada. While experiences from other jurisdictions where HAT trials have been implemented clearly demonstrate substantial crime reduction effects for trial participants, there is overall concern that HAT clinics - similar to other interventions aiming at problematic street drug users - may induce a 'honeypot' effect, leading to increases in crime and/or disorder problems in the vicinity of interventions. It has been argued that HAT clinics will attract undesirable behaviour associated with cultures of street drug use and thereby produce negative impacts on the community.


METHODS
This study examined the incidence of crime and disorder in the Vancouver and Montreal sites before and during the NAOMI trial (2002-2006), using police calls for service and arrest data. Data were analysed by autoregression analyses.


RESULTS
The analysis suggested that most indicators remained stable during the pre- and implementation phase of the NAOMI trial in both sites.


CONCLUSIONS
While the attribution of observed crime and disorder trends to the specific clinical interventions in Montreal and Vancouver is difficult and many extrinsic factors may play a role, this study has not generated any clear evidence from institutional police data to suggest increases or decreases in community-based problems associated with HAT programs in Canada.
Lasnier
Benoit
B
National Public Health Institute of Quebec, School of Criminology, University of Montreal, 3460 Place Decelles #48, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3S 1X4. benoit.lasnier@umontreal.ca
Brochu
Serge
S
Boyd
Neil
N
Fischer
Benedikt
B
D001955:British Columbia; D002960:Civil Disorders / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003932:Heroin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D009294:Narcotics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011792:Quebec; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012449:Safety; D013223:Statistics as Topic
D009294:Narcotics; D003932:Heroin