The city of Philadelphia is welcoming private organizations to set up medically supervised drug injection sites amid an unprecedented rise in overdose deaths in recent years, CNN reported Friday.
The walk-in facilities would also offer access to sterile needles, the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, wound care and referral to social services.
There are currently no legally sanctioned supervised injection sites in the United States.
“Incidents of overdose have steadily increased to an alarming degree,” Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Tuesday, describing the city’s move as a “bold action to help save lives.”
Supervised injection sites have faced opposition in the past. Some believe that they implicitly condone drug use and lead to increased use.
“There is no safe way to inject heroin, fentanyl and carfentanyl,” Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, said in a statement Tuesday in response to the city’s announcement.
“Sanctioning a ‘safe injection site’ presents significant public safety concerns, and changes in state and federal law would need to occur for these sites to operate legally,” Shapiro said.
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