Philadelphia Could Be the First U.S. City to Open a Sanctioned Safe Injection Site

"Philadelphia, with the highest opioid death rate of any major American city, on Tuesday announced plans to encourage the opening of sites where people can inject drugs under medical supervision," reports Aubrey Whelan.

According to Whelan, an authorized safe injection site would put Philadelphia at the forefront of public health policy responding to the opioid epidemic. Canada cities have sanctioned injection sites. In the United States, Seattle is closest to opening a site. "Cities like San Francisco, New York, Ithaca and Denver have begun to seriously consider sites," according to Whelan. "A study in Baltimore found that the city would save $6 million on medical costs connected with overdoses by opening one site."

The city will still need to select locations for the sites, currently referred to as Comprehensive User Engagement Sites (CUES). According to city officials presents at a recent press conference announcing the new facilities, the CUES are only one part of what will become a large, coordinated effort to combat the opioid epidemic.

The article includes a lot more context about the legal and political controversies surrounding harm reduction practices.