Cities On Front Lines Of Opioid Epidemics Balk At Trump Administration’s Threats Over Safe-Injection Sites
“Just as local governments had to lead during the HIV epidemic, cities like ours will be on the forefront of saving lives in the opioid crisis,” said James Garrow, a spokesman for Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health. Justice Department officials last week promised "swift and aggressive" action against any city that set up such a site. A bill to authorize San Francisco’s plans passed the California legislature last week and is sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.
The Washington Post:
Cities Defiant After Justice Department’s Threat On ‘Supervised Injection Sites’
Cities seeking to open sites where illegal drug users are monitored to prevent overdoses responded defiantly Tuesday to a Justice Department threat to take “swift and aggressive action” against that approach to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Plans for those “supervised injection sites” — under consideration in San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle and elsewhere — collided with a stern Justice Department warning issued last week, threatening to create a standoff between federal and local authorities like the confrontation over “sanctuary cities.” (Bernstein and Zezima, 9/4)
KQED:
S.F. Safe Injection Site Supporters Urge Gov. Brown To Sign Bill
San Francisco officials, as well as health care and substance abuse service professionals, are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill allowing the city to open the country's first supervised injection site for drug users. State Sen. Scott Wiener, co-author of Assembly Bill 186 --"controlled substances: overdose prevention program" -- said he's hopeful that the governor will sign it, because Brown believes in progressive alternatives to incarceration. (Veltman, 9/4)
In other news on the opioid crisis —
Stat:
California Closer To A Take-Back Law For Medicines And Needles
California appears poised to become the first state in the nation to adopt a take-back law that addresses prescription drugs and needles, a contentious issue that is slowly spreading across the country as local governments grapple with budget constraints caused by unwanted or unused medicines and the opioid crisis. And as in other states, manufacturers would have to underwrite the costs.In a vote last week, the California senate unanimously endorsed a bill that would require companies to finance the cost of collecting and disposing of medicines and sharps, as needles are sometimes called. The measure was sent to California Gov. Jerry Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill. A spokesperson declined to say whether Brown will do so. (Silverman, 9/4)