I spoke on a panel a few weeks ago about safe injection sites, (SCS) also known as overdose prevention centers and supervised consumption spaces. These are places where drug users can use in a clean, safe environment under the watchful eyes of trained individuals, some medical personnel, other people who may have used themselves in the past. I was one of seven on the panel that included a person with lived experience, an ER doctor, a woman involved in Rhode Island’s efforts to start a SCS, a former commissioner of mental health, a woman who had written extensively about these sites and most important of all, Sam Rivera, who started and runs New York City’s first two supervised injection sites.
Currently the federal crack house statutes prevent people from running buildings for the purposes of people consuming illegal drugs. It was designed to stop landlords who knowingly ran crack houses and shooting galleries where many people overdosed and died. That said, the justice department...
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