California Could Be First State In Country To Open Safe-Injection Sites
The measure has passed the state Assembly, cleared two Senate committees and now awaits a vote on the Senate floor.
Mercury News:
California Weighs Controversial ‘Injection Centers’ To Fight Opioid Epidemic
A woman walks into a clinic where a nurse offers her a choice of sterilized needles of different sizes. She picks one, pulls a packet of heroin out of her purse and injects herself. The health staff stands by, ready to give her the overdose reversal drug naloxone if she shows signs of potentially fatal distress. There are government-approved drug injection centers like this in Europe, Canada and Australia, but none in the United States. (Drummond, 9/7)
Sacramento Bee:
More Opioid Prescriptions Than People In Some California Counties
Trinity County is the state’s fourth-smallest, and ended last year with an estimated population of 13,628 people. Its residents also filled prescriptions for oxycodone, hydrocodone and other opioids 18,439 times, the highest per capita rate in California. ... There were 1,925 opioid-linked overdose deaths in California last year, according to recently updated state data, and thousands of emergency room visits. (Miller, 9/8)