Encouraging Signals from the Justice Department on Safe Consumption Sites

Jeffrey A. SingerThe Associated Pressreports the U.S. Department of Justice announced it is “evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.” This is welcome news.As I explained in a 2019Cato Policy Analysis, safe consumption sites (also called “safe injection sites” and “overdose prevention sites”) have established a track record of saving lives and preventing the spread of HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases since the late 1980s. This harm reduction strategy is used throughout Europe, Canada (whichnow has 38 sites), and Australia. In fact, the U.S. is an outlier among developed countries —federal law, 21 U.S.C. Section 856, dubbed the “Crack House Statute, ” outlaws knowingly maintaining premises where controlled substances are used or stored.When a private, self ‐​funded organization in Philadelphia sought, with the City Council’s endorsement, to open Safehouse in the city’s Kensington District, it wasthwarted by the Trump administration ’s Justice Department. Afterlosing in the Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The harm reduction project is now in legal limbo.Defying federal law, last summer the Governor of Rhode Island signed a billpermitting privately ‐​funded safe consumption sites beginning this spring. New ...

Source: Cato-at-liberty - February 8, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs