This month over 80 people attended! The guest speakers were on the Seattle and King County Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force. They told us their findings and recommendations. You may have heard that one recommendation is to open a couple safe injection sites where adults can use heroin with supervision. You can read all the minute from the meeting here, but below are the notes specifically about the safe injection sites:
Safe injection sites:
i. Not only help users stay healthy (and get fast treatment if they overdose);
users talking with social workers and nurses on site can start them thinking
differently, and eventually open up opportunities for change.
ii. Will help make communities healthier and safer – reduce needles lying
around, etc. So the first sites will be located where there are already big
problems with overdoses, outdoor shooting up, and discarded needles
lying around.
iii. Starting with two sites as a pilot program. Can later expand to other
neighborhoods that would benefit from them. Many would be good
because users aren’t going to travel far to use; data shows it’s about 5
blocks. None will be established in areas that don’t already have problems.
iv. Research shows safe injection sites save municipalities a lot of money.
v. It does NOT mean heroin is being decriminalized. SPD will still go after
dealers and prolific offenders. Data analysis will continue to find which
neighborhoods to focus SPD efforts.
I deeply appreciate the efforts of those who are trying to help drug users in our beloved Seattle community however this is a frightening experiment with real people and real lives and there is no genuine evidence to support the theory that this will work.
There are genuine threats to our families, our properties and our well being and common sense tells us this is a huge risk to our way of life here.
Real consequences will motivate before coddling and enabling users to be more comfortable while they destroy themselves.
I have had loved ones desperately wanting to be free from drug addictions. When they finally hit rock bottom and made the hard choice to seek treatment, they ran into stonewalls everywhere they looked. There was no access for them or assistance to get help in any legitimate programs.
Instead of pouring resources into a program that will only take them down faster, why not redirect those funds to real programs that will help them get their lives back through proven treatment centers. (This should be mandatory when breaking the law or go to jail).
The injection sites will invite more crime, more street element and more shattered lives into our already compromised neighborhoods. Please reconsider your plans!
Yes, one of the other recommendations by the task force is to make treatment more accessible. It wants to have help available whenever users are ready for it, and that includes having enough treatment sites, without waiting lists.
I am confused. This says safe injection sites save communities (emphasis plural) money. Local TV news reports say there are no such sites in the US and one in Canada (Vancouver). Where is the data for this statement coming from? What communities?
Thanks!
I meant municipalities, not communities. Since this was referenced in the notes, were examples given at the meeting?
Examples weren’t given, that I remember. But if you google “how would safe injection sites save cities money?” there are some articles on how they save medical costs, and I see one about how they could save San Francisco money.