{"id":374772,"date":"2021-12-01T06:42:38","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T03:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/nyc-safe-injection-sites-sends-odious-message-to-drug-addicts\/"},"modified":"2021-12-01T06:42:38","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T03:42:38","slug":"nyc-safe-injection-sites-sends-odious-message-to-drug-addicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/nyc-safe-injection-sites-sends-odious-message-to-drug-addicts\/","title":{"rendered":"#NYC safe injection sites sends odious message to drug addicts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#NYC safe injection sites sends odious message to drug addicts<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Mayor de Blasio\u2019s announcement of two so-called \u201csafe injection sites\u201d for drug users \u2014 one in Washington Heights and another in East Harlem \u2014 makes New York the first US city to legally permit such facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The hope is, of course, to save lives. But the city will also be taking a side in a pitched legal and moral debate about the effectiveness of such sites \u2014 and, in fact, authorizing facilities that will be operating in violation of federal drug law. An upcoming court case based on a similar proposal in Philadelphia will reveal whether the Biden administration will move to permit such \u201charm reduction\u201d facilities nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The underlying assumptions of the \u201charm reduction\u201d movement are clear. Drug addicts will continue to seek and use increasingly powerful, illegal street drugs \u2014 and it\u2019s better to provide clean needles and the on-site overdose reversal drug naloxone than let them join the more than 100,000 Americans who died from an overdose in the year that ended in April, a tragic new record.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Such sites already operate abroad, including in Amsterdam and Vancouver, Canada. And there is no doubt that reversing an overdose \u2014 as it\u2019s h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ening \u2014 will prevent death. Ronda Goldfein, an advocate for such sites in Philadelphia, recently argued that the overdose crises require an all-hands-on-deck approach despite the inconclusive results of prior research: \u201cThe idea that we\u2019ll wait, we\u2019ll develop the perfect study, and then we\u2019ll open the doors. . . . What about the people we\u2019re losing every day?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/November-17-2021-Andreas-Stylianou-street-renaming.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Mayor Bill de Blasio\" class=\"wp-image-20326338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/November-17-2021-Andreas-Stylianou-street-renaming.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/November-17-2021-Andreas-Stylianou-street-renaming.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/November-17-2021-Andreas-Stylianou-street-renaming.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Mayor Bill de Blasio announced two \u201csafe injection sites\u201d for drug users in NYC.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Paul Martinka<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>The two new Overdose Prevention Centers \u2014 and two more planned \u2014 will apparently resemble those medical labs where one gets blood drawn. Charles King of Housing Works, which hopes to open a site, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gothamist.com\/news\/de-blasio-wants-to-fast-track-supervised-injection-sites-so-whats-holding-them-back\">told Gothamist\/NYC<\/a> that he envisions a setting with white partitions and a mirror, such that addicts can self-inject hard drugs such as heroin but be observed by nurses or an EMT, in case of an overdose.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there are still good reasons to be concerned about such facilities. As David Murray, longtime chief scientist at the federal Office of National Drug Control, has said, safe injection sites may not actually be safe: The new generation of fentanyl-laced street drugs may be so potent that overdose-reversal drugs may not be effective. The Harlem and Washington Heights sites, to be operated by OnPoint NYC, will, per the city\u2019s feasibility study, offer walk-ins the opportunity to have their drugs tested for fentanyl or impurities to minimize risk. But would such testing be required? What if addicts decline such a test? And what if, despite precautions, someone dies in a \u201csafe\u201d injection site? Such concerns have prompted opposition to such facilities from Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, who has said that \u201cgovernment should not be involved in taking on that type of liability.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But most notably, there is little definitive research that demonstrates SIS improve their surrounding neighborhoods or reduce overall overdoses. Studies abroad have found a decline in syringes in their neighborhoods \u2014 but found no reduction in area crime, which one would think would be an important measure of success.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Murray notes, \u201cAddicts may shoot up in safe injection sites but those are not open 24 hours a day. They will continue to inject drugs elsewhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, he adds, our goal should be to help addicts build productive lives, not simply to facilitate their addiction. Thus, any safe injection sites should closely monitor the fate of those who use them \u2014 no easy task, given the transience and risks associated with addiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s another important reason, however, that cities including Philadelphia and San Francisco, where harm reduction advocates have pushed for SIS, have not seen them open. Federal law \u2014 the Controlled Substances Act \u2014 prohibits the operation of a facility \u201cfor the purpose of unlawfully using controlled substances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Supervised-Injection-Sites-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Evelyn Milan, right, director of services at VOCAL-NY, prepares a package with sterile injecting equipment for a member at the organization's headquarters in the Brooklyn borough of New York. \" class=\"wp-image-20326365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Supervised-Injection-Sites-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Supervised-Injection-Sites-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/Supervised-Injection-Sites-1.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Philadelphia has a similar safe haven proposal as NYC.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP Photo\/Mary Altaffer, File<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The city Health Department brushes off the law, saying \u201cour overarching recommendation is to support the piloting of four supervised injection sites \u2026 despite the risk of criminal prosecution for clients, staff and operators, as well as the risk of loss of licensure of clinical staff and the forfeiture of property for facility operators and landlords.\u201d Oh.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the efforts of the Philadelphia group Safehouse have been, to date, blocked by the federal courts after the city\u2019s Trump-era US attorney brought suit. Safehouse is, however, trying a new legal tack, based on a religious exemption, that will challenge the courts\u2019 interpretation of the law. In the process, its new suit, due to be heard in early January, will reveal whether the Biden Justice Department will continue the Trump-era opposition to safe injection sites. Acquiescence could open the door to such sites nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is much at stake here, including, to be sure, the lives of the addicted. But so, too, is the message that we are sending regarding drug use. At a time when we have already legalized marijuana, as states scrounge for sin tax revenue, we must decide whether we want to give a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> seal of approval to what amounts to hedonism \u2014 to a lifestyle that promotes pleasure and thrill-seeking over the sense of satisfaction and achievement that comes with work well done and healthy families.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AP21215693436664.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"New York Mayor Bill de Blasio\" class=\"wp-image-20326374\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AP21215693436664.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AP21215693436664.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/AP21215693436664.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Bill de Blasio said the locations will be in Washington Heights and East Harlem.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">AP Photo\/Richard Drew<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A full spectrum of behaviors that were once rightly viewed as temptations to resist, including drug use and gambling, are not only permitted but actively promoted by state governments. Now New York City is asking two low-income neighborhoods to provide sites where addicts will gather and legally use illegal drugs. What message will we send to those in East Harlem and Washington Heights who are raising children to work hard and play by the rules?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For now, this looks to be a fait accompli, as Mayor-elect Eric Adams has expressed strong support and the incoming state health commissioner, Mary Bassett, has just finished serving in the same role in the city. But what if overdoses citywide continue to rise anyway? What if crime surrounding the sites actually climbs? We can only hope that those involved will truly view these sites as pilots and remain open to the possibility that they may bring more costs than benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Howard Husock is a senior fellow in domestic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. He hosted a recent AEI event with leading public-health researchers, \u201cSafe injection sites in America\u2019s cities.\u201d<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/11\/30\/nyc-safe-injection-sites-sends-odious-message-to-drug-addicts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#NYC safe injection sites sends odious message to drug addicts&#8221; Mayor de Blasio\u2019s announcement of two so-called \u201csafe injection sites\u201d for drug users \u2014 one in Washington Heights and another in East Harlem \u2014 makes New York the first US city to legally permit such facilities.\u00a0 The hope is, of course, to save lives. But&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":374773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/11\/newspress-collage-20326218-1638328616060.png?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[120608,71059,5042,87869,6864,93817],"class_list":["post-374772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-30-21","tag-addiction","tag-bill-de-blasio","tag-drug-overdoses","tag-drugs","tag-overdoses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}