Injection centers – safe spaces for people to inject illicit drugs like heroin — have come to America, and New York is the latest city to hop on board.
The idea is simple: Plot out parts of the city where opioid overdose is rampant and open up facilities, also known as overdose prevention centers, where on-site nurses can monitor users and offer clean needles and Narcan — the opioid antagonist used to revive a person when they overdose. These centers also provide HIV and hepatitis tests, as well as counseling aimed at weaning people off dangerous opioid drugs.
About 100 of these injection centers already exist in 66 cities and nine countries: Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Canada, and Australia.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio announced last week that his city will establish four injecting sites throughout the boroughs in a one-year pilot program, which is funded by current needle exchanges, not city dollars.
“The opioid epidemic has killed more people in our city than car crashes and homicides combined,” de Blasio said in a statement. “After a rigorous review of similar efforts across the world, and after careful consideration of public health and safety expert views, we believe overdose prevention centers will save lives and get more New Yorkers into the treatment they need to beat this deadly addiction.”
According to a study, overdoses killed 1,441 people in New York in 2017 — more than every year on record and an uptick of 100 percent since 2000.
Vancouver, BC, was the first city in North America to offer the service. At the Vancouver locations, 3.6 million drug injections have taken place since 2003, with zero deaths and 6,440 interventions, according to BuzzFeed.
In January 2016, Seattle announced it would provide overdose prevention centers. However, unlike New York, it will be using state funding to set up the program. Cities including Denver and Ithaca, NY, are considering plans to establish injection sites. San Francisco may open a site as early as this summer, and Philadelphia announced its intention to build the sites back in January.
This past February, the Drug Enforcement Agency weighed in and determined that injection facilities violate the law and would be subject to legal action.
“New York City is experiencing the highest level of overdose deaths that we’ve ever had on record,” Alyssa Aguilera, executive director of advocacy group VOCAL NY told BuzzFeed. “In this moment of crisis, we are excited that New York is being a leader on this issue and moving forward with establishing these sites that will undoubtedly save lives.”
Handing out condoms to teenagers used to be considerably controversial, especially among the religious right. Now it’s de rigeur in many parts of the country. If teens are going to have sex — and trust me, they are — then they should be given the tools to have safe sex. Injection centers are also controversial, but these cities that are pioneering the programs are on the right side of history.
I’m all for anything and everything that can reduce overdose deaths. Addiction is a disease and its victims are stuck in a death spiral of needing one more fix after another. It is an ugly epidemic of outstanding proportions. Addicts are going to shoot heroin regardless of whether there are overdose prevention centers. So why not provide a service that saves lives rather than leave addicts rotting and dying in the streets?
