Do Drug Consumption Rooms Reduce Drug-Related Hospitalizations? Evidence from Switzerland

This paper estimates the causal effect of drug consumption room (DCR) openings on drug-related hospitalizations in Switzerland. I exploit the staggered introduction of DCRs across Swiss cities between 1998 and 2022, using individual-level hospital records and a difference-in-differences estimator. DCR openings reduce drug-related hospitalization rates by roughly 35% within 5 km of a facility. The reduction is most pronounced for fatal outcomes, which fall by 35% while narcotics poisoning hospitalizations rise by a comparable amount, consistent with DCRs converting potentially fatal overdoses into non-fatal hospitalizations. Mental and behavioral disorder hospitalizations decline by 32% while estimates for Hepatitis and HIV are imprecise. The findings support the role of DCRs as an effective harm reduction strategy.

Source: arXiv:2609.27732v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27732v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.27732v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2609.27732v1