Seattle Group Wants to Open Medically Supervised Site for People Using Drugs

A group in Seattle says it wants to open a site where people can use drugs under medical supervision, according to The Seattle Times. Advocates say such sites can reduce overdose deaths, HIV and hepatitis C transmissions.

In February, the mayor of Ithaca, New York said he wants his city to be the first in the United States to host a supervised injection facility for people who use heroin. The facility would allow people to inject heroin under the care of a nurse, without getting arrested.

The mayor said the injection facility would be part of a holistic approach to drug abuse in Ithaca that includes use of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. People addicted to drugs would be able to get clean syringes, while being directed to treatment and recovery programs, he said.

North America’s first government-sanctioned facility that medically supervises the injection of illegal drugs is located in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In Seattle, the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance, which has run a needle exchange, is calling for a safe site for drug use. “This isn’t a matter of if — this is a matter of when,” said Director Shilo Murphy. “We need to move ahead as fast as we can because this is a crisis, because people are dying.”

The idea of a safe-consumption site may be gaining momentum in Seattle because drug use is becoming more visible, according to Caleb Banta-Green, researcher with the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.

“I’ve been counting dead people a long time,” he said. “Nobody really cared. But it’s so in-your-face now. You see people injecting in public. I hope we’re talking about this because we value lives, not because we want to hide the problem.”