Seattle Moves Ahead With Plan to Open Nation’s First Supervised Heroin-Injection Clinics

Seattle is moving ahead with plans to open the nation’s first supervised heroin-injection clinics, the Los Angeles Times reports. The government-supported clinics would allow people addicted to heroin to legally use the drug while being monitored by medical personnel.

Earlier this month, Canada announced its doctors will now be able to prescribe pharmaceutical-grade heroin to treat severe addiction that has not responded to more conventional treatment.

Currently there is one facility in Canada that is allowed to prescribe diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, the active ingredient in heroin. The facility, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, allows people addicted to heroin to come in as often as three times a day to receive prescription heroin for free. The facility, called Crosstown Clinic, will be able to expand its heroin-maintenance program under the new ruling by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.