There goes the neighborhood? The public safety enhancing effects of a mobile harm reduction intervention
Alex L. Fixler, Leah A. Jacobs, Daniel B. Jones, Aaron Arnold, and Emily E. Underwood
In their new study ‘There goes the neighborhood? The public safety enhancing effects of mobile harm reduction intervention’, the authors test the impact of four mobile buprenorphine clinics in Pittsburgh on neighborhood arrest rates. Although buprenorphine is a gold-standard medication for opioid use disorders (MOUD), many people with these disorders do not access it, and one of the barriers to access has historically been a “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) resistance to substance use service sites. Chief among NIMBY concerns is that substance use services will increase crime rates where they are placed. However, the results of this study indicate that these concerns may be unfounded.
Key Insights:
- Mobile clinics providing medication for opioid use disorders were associated with reduced neighborhood arrest rates.
- This study suggests that expansion of mobile services could promote both health equity and public safety.