Definition of public amenity in drug consumption room literature: A scoping review

Drug consumption room effects are often constructed around ‘public amenity’.  However, this concept has attributed to many meanings. This review aimed to scope the literature for evidence of the definition of public amenity, or related terms, in DCR research and to identify variables used to measure public amenity when investigating community impacts of these facilities.

Studies published between 1991 and August 2023 were identified using terms synonymous with ‘drug consumption room’ and ‘public amenity’. Searches of online databases (Medline, Embase, SocIndex, and Scopus) were conducted and grey literature searched using the Google search engine. The reference list in key identified articles was hand-searched to identify additional relevant articles. Data including the study’s location, term used to describe ‘public amenity’, definition of ‘public amenity’, and variables used to measure impact were extracted.

Of the 621 publications identified for this review, 19 English language primary studies explicitly discussed public amenity within DCR research. The majority of these studies were conducted in British Columbia, Canada (n=6) and Sydney, Australia (n=4) with papers in the sample favouring the term ‘public order’ (n=7). There were limited studies (n=3) offering a definition of ‘public nuisance’. Most studies utilised ‘public injecting’ (n=14) and ‘publicly discarded needles/syringes’ (n=13) variables to measure the impact of DCRs on public amenity.

Public amenity and related terms, as they relate to DCRs, are under-defined in the literature. Research demonstrates that there is increased support for DCRs when facilities are presented as improving public amenity in the surrounding neighbourhood. It is important that these terms are defined accurately to reflect the impact DCRs have on the communities these services support.