The Impact of Supervised Drug Injection Sites on Public Safety<\/p>\n
Over 70,000 people died as a result of a drug overdose in the United States in 2017.\u00a0 Drug overdose deaths now exceed those caused by firearms, car accidents, homicides, or HIV\/AIDS (SCS, n.d.).\u00a0 As drug-related deaths continue to rise, many cities find themselves seeking alternative methods to address the problem.\u00a0 Proposals to open supervised (or safe) injection sites are being introduced in many state legislatures.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n A supervised injection site is a place where drug users can use illegal substances with trained professionals on hand to respond in the case of an overdose.\u00a0 Typically, drug users come in with their own drugs and are given clean needles and a clean, safe space to consume them.\u00a0 Trained professionals are available to provide breathing masks, naloxone, and to provide safer injection advice and information about drug treatment and other health services (Gordon, 2018).\u00a0 Staff members do not directly assist in consumption or handle any drugs brought in by users.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n There are currently over 100 supervised injections sites operating throughout the world with the majority of them located in Europe.\u00a0 There are currently no safe injection sites legally operating in the United States.\u00a0 Several American cities, such as New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco, are leading the way in advocating for supervised injection sites as a response to the opioid epidemic.\u00a0 Such a unique and extreme proposal has stirred up a controversy entangling existing laws with varying public opinions on the matter. \u00a0The controversy of whether or not to sanction and fund such programs is currently being debated in many state legislatures with hopes to begin opening facilities as soon as 2019.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n The concept of supervised injection sites is highly controversial due to the stigma attached to substance abuse issues and its conflict with current state and federal laws.\u00a0 The public and political concerns are clear:\u00a0 supervised injection sites promote drug use, they will bring drug users to the neighborhoods they are located in, it is morally and legally wrong to encourage drug use, and so on (Cohen, 2018).\u00a0 Conflict ensues when this perceived enabling of illegal drug use is weighed against the potential positive impact of reducing overdose deaths.\u00a0 State legislatures are now attempting to navigate the murky waters surrounding the establishment of safe injection sites while considering the legality, potential harms to society and the potential benefits to addicts.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\n Cohen, J.\u00a0 <\/span>(2018).\u00a0 <\/span>Supervised injection facilities face obstacles, but that shouldn\u2019t stop them.\u00a0 <\/span>Retrieved from https:\/\/www.healthaffairs.org\/do\/10.1377\/hblog20181127.121405\/full\/<\/a><\/p>\n Gordon, E.\u00a0 <\/span>(2018).\u00a0 <\/span>What\u2019s the evidence that supervised drug injection sites saves lives.\u00a0 <\/span>Retrieved from https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2018\/09\/07\/645609248\/whats-the-evidence-that-supervised-drug-injection-sites-save-lives<\/a><\/p>\n