"A Little Heaven in Hell": The Role of a Supervised Injection Facility in Transforming Place

While numerous studies on InSite (North America's first supervised injection facility) have been published in leading international journals, little attention has been given to the facility's role in the local culture of drug use and its transformation of place in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. This study analyzes the transformative role of InSite in the lives of injection drug users (IDUs). Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a small, purposively chosen sample of IDUs attending InSite. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically using NVivo 8 software. Participants' narratives indicate that attending InSite has had numerous positive effects in their lives, including changes in sharing behavior, improving health, establishing social support and saving their lives. Furthermore, attending InSite has been particularly effective in creating a unique microenvironment where IDUs are increasingly identifying the facility as their community center.