Will Supervised Injection Sites Succeed Where War on Drugs Has Failed? – Crime Report

By TCR Staff | December 8, 2021

Supervised injection sites for illegal drug users, recently rolled out for the first time in New York City, represent a smart and compassionate approach that has already been tested in other countries and will save lives where tough-on-drug policies have failed, according to the Washington Post. The two injection centers, in East Harlem and Washington Heights, allow illegal drug users to bring their own drugs and indulge under the supervision of trained staff who can intervene in the event of overdoses and provide users with addiction treatment options, the Post said in an unsigned editorial.

Mayor Bill de Blasio promised that the city would take no enforcement action against them and that all of the citys district attorneys, save for Staten Islands, support the facilities. Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who takes over in January, 2022, has also expressed support. A feasibility study conducted by the citys health department estimated that the program could save up to 130 lives a year. In New York, more than 2,000 people died of a drug overdose in 2020, the highest total since the city started keeping track in 2000, and more than 100,000 people died nationally in the 12-month period that ended in April, 2021.

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Will Supervised Injection Sites Succeed Where War on Drugs Has Failed? - Crime Report