User:Etp00/sandbox

Supervised injection site

Philadelphia[edit]
The City of Philadelphia is considering opening sites within the city. On January 23, 2018, Philadelphia's Public Health Commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, announced he wants the city to establish one or more in the city. He cited Vancouver, stating overdose deaths have been reduced, as has the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis C.[94] '''He believes that these safe injection sites can save lives. '''

Other city officials differ. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross has publicly stated he is "totally adamant against" the idea, but has an open mind and a lot of questions. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has also said he supports the recommendation. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro disagrees that the sites are an effective path to treatment and suggested changes would be needed in both state and federal laws in order for such sites to operate legally.[95][96]

'''Safehouse, a non-profit organization based in Pennsylvania, hopes to open America's first safe injection site in Philadelphia as a means of overdose prevention. In response, the US Attorney for the Philadelphia area, William McSwain, said that even though Safehouse may have good intentions, opening a safe injection site would be going too far. McSwain expresses that this would only normalize drug use and believes that it would not help to solve the opioid crisis. After McSwain and the Trump administration decided to sue Safehouse in February 2019, Safehouse hired its own set of lawyers to counter-sue the government. The Trump Administration is acting under the Controlled Substances Act which states that “manag[ing] or control[ling] any place, regardless of compensation, for the purpose of unlawfully using a controlled substance,” is illegal. Safehouse and its representatives argue that this law does not take into consideration that a safe injection site is for public health reasons and meant to save lives. One of Safehouse's main arguments is that preventing the establishment of these safe injection sites would go against Safehouse's Board of Director's right to freely practice their religion which emphasizes the Judeo-Christian ideal of "preserving life". '''