Philadelphia Opening Safe Injection Site – Should the DOJ Crack Down?

Update - October 9, 2018:

• Philadelphia plans to open a medically-supervised injection site amidst threats of a crackdown from the Trump administration.
• The nonprofit Safehouse - whose board includes former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell - will run the safe-injection site, providing a space where people can use drugs under medical supervision, trade needles, and be revived if they overdose.

"Twelve-hundred-and-seventeen Philadelphians died of overdoses - most of them died alone - in the year 2017. It's the highest rate per capita of any big city in America. We've got to do something to stop it," Rendell said.

• Trump administration officials are closely monitoring the planned opening and promising a crackdown.

"Cities and counties should expect the Department of Justice to meet the opening of any injection site with swift and aggressive action," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in August.

• Speaking specifically of Philadelphia's planned safe injection site, Rosenstein told WHYY: “If local governments get in the business of facilitating drug use, of telling people we’re going to help you — not just hand out needles, because they’re not just handing out needles — they’re actually inviting people to bring these illegal drugs into their places of business."

Countable's original story appears below.

Update - August 30, 2018:

• The Trump administration is threatening prosecution against cities that open supervised drug injection sites.
• U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times that

"cities and counties should expect the Department of Justice to meet the opening of any injection site with swift and aggressive action."

• Safe injection facilities provide a medically-supervised space where drug users can go to safely inject without fear of arrest, violence, or robbery.
• And as WHYY reported, "Philadelphia city officials, confounded by a staggering death toll, have said a facility where people can inject drugs under supervision is one way of saving lives."
• Rosenstein rejects this claim.

“I’m not aware of any valid basis for the argument that you can engage in criminal activity as long as you do it in the presence of someone with a medical license,” he said.

Countable's original story appears below.

What’s the story?

• San Francisco Mayor London Breed plans to demonstrate on Sunday what a safe drug injection site would look like.

Safe injection sites

• These facilities would provide a medically-supervised space where drug users could go to safely inject without fear of arrest, violence, or robbery.
• Needle-exchange programs would swap out clean syringes for used ones that could be properly disposed of.
• Facilities would also feature addiction treatment services and access to housing resources for people living on the streets.

Violation of federal law

• While similar facilities exist in Canada and Europe, San Francisco would be the first American city to adopt safe injection sites.
• One reason for the slow adoption: opening a safe-injection site in San Francisco would be a violation of federal law, which prohibits possessing illicit drugs and “maintaining or providing access” to a site where illegal drugs are used.
• As the San Francisco Chronicle explained, “That means federal law enforcement could theoretically raid safe injection sites, shut them down, and arrest anybody who authorized their existence, works at them or uses drugs in them.”

What do you think?

Should other cities consider safe injection sites? Should federal law be modified to allow for these spaces? Hit Take Action and tell your reps, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Credit: ezza116 / iStock)