Moving

San Francisco strikes to permit non-profits to function supervised drug injection websites

Washington (CNN) San Francisco is in the process of allowing local nonprofits to open so-called supervised injection sites around the city, a move local Democratic leaders say would limit overdoses among drug users, but a program that has met with opposition is by the state leadership.

Also known as overdose prevention centers, the areas allow users to bring previously purchased drugs, such as heroin and fentanyl, under the supervision of staff trained in the event of an overdose or other medical emergency. They also offer counseling and referrals to other social and health services. However, opponents fear that such websites would encourage and normalize drug use and attract crime.

A bill introduced Tuesday and supported by Mayor London Breed, a Democrat, would repeal an existing 2020 ordinance that would have allowed the city to grant permits for “overdose prevention programs” in accordance with efforts then underway in Sacramento To give.

But a bill in the state assembly was defeated in committee this summer — the sites remain illegal at the state and federal levels and are therefore ineligible for public funding — leaving the San Francisco board of directors to now decide whether to pass it by going there alone will allow local nonprofits to operate the sites with private funding “before state and federal legal issues are resolved.”

“Overdose prevention sites can be part of an overall strategy that can save lives and address outdoor drug use in our communities,” Breed said in a statement last week. “Fentanyl is challenging us like never before, and in addition to opening up these sites, we must work with law enforcement to shut down the open air drug markets and ensure our neighborhoods feel improvements as we use these resources.”

The city’s bill now faces a committee before a full vote by the 11-member board of directors. If approved, the mayor’s office believes nonprofits could move to open sites immediately.

So far, the city hasn’t received any formal site proposals, but has ongoing discussions with several groups interested in opening them, Jeff Cretan, a spokesman for Breed, told CNN.

Newsom has resisted previous efforts to open websites

Supplies are seen on an injection station table in a cubicle at Safer Inside, a realistic model of a safe injection site in San Francisco, in this August 29, 2018 file photo.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, vetoed a bill that would have created supervised injection sites in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland.

“It’s possible that these sites would help improve the safety and health of our urban areas, but if implemented without a strong plan, they could defeat that purpose,” Newsom said in a veto letter at the time. “These unintended consequences in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland are not to be taken lightly. Increased drug use in these areas is not a risk we can take.”

Newsom’s office declined to comment to CNN on the pending San Francisco ordinance, including whether the state would stand in the way of opening potential locations in the city.

However, Cretan expressed confidence that Sacramento would not interfere with the city’s plan if it went ahead.

“Although there might be questions about how these websites can work, I think there is strong support in the state for finding innovative solutions to prevent overdoses and we hope that if and when a non-profit organization opens, one of these websites and they show the results that we’ve seen elsewhere that people will ensure that this public health solution can be pushed further,” Cretan said.

From 2020 through calendar year 2022, San Francisco recorded at least 1,985 drug overdose deaths, according to city data.

Nonprofit groups in New York City opened privately funded supervised injection sites in late 2021, similar to the model being considered in San Francisco, and more than 603 overdoses were reversed in the first year, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit , who advocates for such sites.

Philadelphia has tried to open such websites, but a nonprofit that tried to open a website was embroiled in an ongoing legal battle with the federal government that dates back to the Trump administration. CNN has reached out to the Biden administration about his current position on the sites.

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