Lion's Pride Volume 13 (Spring 2020) Volume 13 (Spring 2020) | Page 26

rate of blood-borne diseases and other infectious diseases by providing clean injection equipment and connecting PWID to various medical assistance and social support, thus enhancing the whole community and saving numerous public resources. By providing safe, supervised injection spaces, SIS’s have significant positive impacts on preventing overdoses and on reducing public injection and inappropriate injection litter disposal. However, the public support for both of these programs is still low. In order to reduce the health risks among people who inject drugs and communities, people need to promote syringe service programs and supervised injection sites. Keywords: People who inject drugs, health risks, blood-borne diseases, overdose, community resources, syringe services programs, supervised injection sites, public support People Who Inject Drugs at a Glance The term “people who inject drugs” (PWID) refers to individuals who use illegal drugs such as heroin, cocaine, morphine, or other drugs into a vein by using a hypodermic needle. In most cases, PWID already have addiction or will become addicted very soon (Adamec & Gwinnell, 2008). The number of PWID is numerous. After reviewing the data from 976 credible sources from worldwide, Larney (2017) estimated that the population of PWID is up to 15.6 million. The United States is under the opioid epidemic crisis as well. A document posted on Centers for