Canada offers places for addicts to shoot up safely. Can the US copy the model?
“This is not about providing free drugs,” said MacDonald. “It’s about providing better care and reducing the burden on society.” It costs the provincial government about C$27,000 a year to fund a Crosstown client, as opposed to an estimated C$48,000 spent a year on health, policing and judicial costs for those who are dependent on illicit opioids.
Clients visit the clinic two or three times a day. Each time they’re given heroin and sterile equipment and are supervised while they inject. Some continue to use heroin for a long time, but the clinic has so far seen at least 10% of its clients pull back on their drug use…. Fourteen years after Insite opened its doors, the idea is now catching on. The federal government last year approved a second safe injection site in Vancouver and in recent weeks has given the green light to services in Montreal, Toronto and Surrey… Interest has also been percolating south of the border; groups in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City, among others, are currently exploring the creation of similar facilities.
Original Article (The Guardian):
Canada offers places for addicts to shoot up safely. Can the US copy the model?
Artwork Fair Use: Science Museum A654411
