California Legislators Consider Opening Supervised Injection Sites

California legislators are considering a measure to open supervised injection sites, NPR reports.

Supporters say these sites, also known as safe consumption sites, prevent overdoses, while slowing the spread of HIV and hepatitis by offering clean syringes. California last considered supervised injection sites in 2018. The legislature passed a bill approving the sites, but then-Governor Jerry Brown vetoed it.

State Senator Scott Wiener, who is sponsoring a bill to pilot safe consumption sites in Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, says a recent cost-benefit analysis shows that every dollar spent on safe consumption in San Francisco would save the city $2.33.“Our hospitals, our emergency rooms, our fire department, our ambulances are all spending huge resources on people who are overdosing,” Wiener said.

The state assembly must pass the measure before it would to go Governor Newsom.

Rhode Island approved supervised injection sites last year, but none have opened yet. Two such sites opened in New York City last fall.