New York City approved the opening of two safe sites for illegal drug use on Tuesday in an effort to slow and prevent drug overdoses, the mayor announced.
While the locations in New York’s East Harlem and Washington Heights will be monitored for signs of overdose and will administer medication to reverse overdoses, offer clean needles, and provide information on addiction treatment, they will not provide the drugs.
“I’m proud to show cities in this country that after decades of failure, a smarter approach is possible,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.
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While critics argue the centers support the use of illegal drugs and violate laws prohibiting operating a place for illegal drug use, de Blasio sent a letter to the sites promising there would be no law enforcement action taken against the users.
Proponents say the sites address the reality of drug use and can save the lives of users who would otherwise fatally overdose.
“The overdose epidemic is a five-alarm fire in public health — in NYC and nationally — and we have to tackle this crisis concurrently with our COVID fight. Overdose prevention centers are a key part of broader harm reduction,” New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi tweeted.
Fatal drug overdoses in 2020 reached record numbers after 100,000 deaths occurred during a 12-month period ending in April, 2,000 of which were in New York City. This year is on track to see even more deaths, with close to 600 fatalities occurring in New York City in the first three months of 2021, according to the New York Times.
Chokshi said that “2020, unfortunately, was the deadliest year on record for overdoses both here in New York City as well as nationally. Every four hours, someone dies of a drug overdose in New York City. We feel a deep conviction and also sense of urgency in opening overdose prevention centers.”
Although New York City is the first city in the United States to approve the safe sites, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, and Seattle have taken steps toward opening their own sites.
Four out of five district attorneys in New York City are in favor of monitored injection sites, with Staten Island’s district attorney as the lone exception, according to the outlet.
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The Biden administration has not endorsed the use of supervised operation sites, but it has outlined drug policy priorities seeking to reduce the number of fatal drug overdoses.
