Let cities open safe injection sites
Neighbors and city officials sometimes challenge sites like these because they fear they will promote drug use and increase crime. Research instead suggests that they lead to increases in public order, with fewer discarded needles on the street and less drug use on the sidewalk, and have no impact on drug-related crimes.
States and other cities should follow the lead of Seattle and Philadelphia to open safe injection sites … At safe injection sites, trained staffs provide clean needles, administer naloxone when there are overdoses and offer long-term treatment options. People bring their own drugs — most often heroin. It may seem counterintuitive: Give drug users space and support to inject themselves with potentially deadly substances, even while encouraging them to stop. But dozens of studies suggest that these sites curtail overdose deaths and increase participation in drug treatment. Despite millions of injections that have occurred at more than 90 facilities internationally over the past three decades, not a single overdose death has been recorded.
Original Article (New York Times):
Let Cities Open Safe Injection Sites
Artwork Fair Use: Tedder
