San Francisco opens up safe-injection room

[Kailee]

SAN FRANCISCO - City health officials took steps Thursday toward opening the nation's first legal safe-injection room, where addicts could shoot up heroin, cocaine and other drugs under the supervision of nurses.

Hoping to reduce San Francisco's high rate of fatal drug overdoses, the public health department co-sponsored a symposium on the only such facility in North America, a 4-year-old Vancouver site where an estimated 700 intravenous users a day self-administer narcotics under the supervision of nurses.

"Having the conversation today will help us figure out whether this is a way to reduce the harms and improve the health of our community," said Grant Colfax, director of HIV prevention for the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

Organizers of the daylong forum, which also included a coalition of nonprofit health and social-service groups, acknowledge that it could take years to get an injection facility up and running. Along with legal hurdles at the state and federal level, such an effort would be almost sure to face political opposition.

Bertha Madras, deputy director of demand reduction for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, called San Francisco's consideration of such a facility "disconcerting" and "poor public policy."

"The underlying philosophy is, 'We accept drug addiction, we accept the state of affairs as acceptable,'" Madras said. "This is a form of giving up."

Sixty-five similar facilities exist in 27 cities in eight countries, but no other U.S. cities have considered creating one, according to Hilary McQuie, Western director for the Harm Reduction Coalition, a nonprofit that promotes alternative drug treatment methods.

"If it happens anywhere in the U.S., it will most likely start in San Francisco," McQuie said. "It really just depends on if there is a political will here. How long it takes for that political will to develop is the main factor."

Drug overdoses represented about one of every seven emergency calls handled by city paramedics between July 2006 and July 2007, according to San Francisco Fire Department Capt. Niels Tangherlini. At the same time, the number of deaths linked to overdoses has declined from a high of about 160 in 1995 to 40 in 2004, he said.

Colfax estimated that there are between 11,000 and 15,000 intravenous drug users in San Francisco, most of them homeless men. Like many large U.S. cities, the city operates a clean-needle exchange program to reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections.

Advocates plan to work on building community support for a safe-injection center, including backing from Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Board of Supervisors.

In Switzerland, Spain and other European countries with such programs, the sites have been placed in existing public health clinics and created as stand-alone facilities, said Andrew Reynolds, a program coordinator with San Francisco's city-run sexually transmitted diseases clinic.

Possible options for opening one in the city include homeless shelters, AIDS clinics or drug treatment centers, he said.

"They aren't these hedonistic dens of iniquity," Reynolds said. "There is no buying or selling of drugs on the premises. Staff do not assist in injections."

While it's too early to tell what the room in San Francisco would look like, Vancouver's InSite program is located on the upper floor of a low-rise building in a downtown neighborhood where drug users shoot up in the open.

The site, exempt from federal drug laws so users can visit without fear of arrest, has 12 private booths where addicts inject drugs such as heroin, cocaine or crystal. They can use equipment and techniques provided by the staff, and then relax with a cup of coffee or get medical attention in the "chill out" room where they are observed, said program coordinator Sarah Evans.

"It looks kind of like a hair salon," Evans said of the bustling space. "If we were a restaurant, we would be making a profit."

While 800 overdoses have occurred on the premises, none of them resulted in death because of the medical supervision provided at InSite, said Thomas Kerr, a University of British Columbia researcher who has extensively studied the program. His research also has shown an increase in addicts seeking drug treatment and a decrease in abandoned syringes, needle-sharing, drug-related crime and other problems since the clinic opened, he said.

The results indicate the idea is worth replicating, despite the criticism it may attract, Kerr said.

"I prefer the approach of the Vancouver Police Department, which was: 'We don't like the idea of this, but let's look at the evidence and at the end of three years we will tell you either this is something we can support or it's something we can't support,'" he said.

Temple University law professor Scott Burris told the audience at Thursday's forum that a supervised injection room would seem to run afoul of federal drug possession laws and a state statute that makes it illegal to operate a crack house or any place where drugs are used, but only if the police and federal agents enforce them.

He cited as an example California's medical marijuana law, which has allowed pot dispensaries to flourish but at the risk of being raided by federal authorities.

"The law isn't a barrier," Burris said. "The issue of whether it's legal doesn't come up until somebody is arrested."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071019/ap_ ... injections

Next stop, legalization of weed! :D

[Ace-o-fire]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

[aurik]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

The point is, they don't, and in return they have less drug-related problems in the area.

[Khamsin]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

Then the druggies wouldn't go there and not die.

Although, maybe I'm just a horrible person, but wouldn't it be better to let natural selection work it's magic and allow the druggies who OD and share/use dirty needles to clear themselves out of the gene pool?

If this really gets more people off drugs and transforms them into productive members of society than other options, I'm all for it. But if all this does is reduce drug-related deaths, but they're still doing the same shit over and over, then I'd rather let them use their dirty needles.

[Exoduso]

It's an okay idea, but you know they will start abusing it. Druggies are druggies no matter what.

[aurik]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

Then the druggies wouldn't go there and not die.

Although, maybe I'm just a horrible person, but wouldn't it be better to let natural selection work it's magic and allow the druggies who OD and share/use dirty needles to clear themselves out of the gene pool?

If this really gets more people off drugs and transforms them into productive members of society than other options, I'm all for it. But if all this does is reduce drug-related deaths, but they're still doing the same shit over and over, then I'd rather let them use their dirty needles.

If they only caused problems for themselves then I'd agree with you. However, the theory is that a clean room helps them get help kicking the habit, reduces the spread of disease, and reduces crime for the area. Since addicts are going to be shooting up somewhere anyhow, why not create a place so that they can do it with a minimum of destructiveness?

[Tyche]

I didn't see this, but do they require rehab commitments before they allow people use this? If not, what is the fucking point?

[Tricen]

Should just fill the syringes with candy and rainbows.

[Alleya]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

Then the druggies wouldn't go there and not die.

Although, maybe I'm just a horrible person, but wouldn't it be better to let natural selection work it's magic and allow the druggies who OD and share/use dirty needles to clear themselves out of the gene pool?

If this really gets more people off drugs and transforms them into productive members of society than other options, I'm all for it. But if all this does is reduce drug-related deaths, but they're still doing the same shit over and over, then I'd rather let them use their dirty needles.

This would be great if people with drug addictions and disease didn't affect the innocent people around them. It doesn't matter how cautious or legal the activity is, the influences of addiction are still far reaching and often have terrible consequences for innocent people.

[Flarega]

I'm from SF. Theres a bit of background info about shooting up drugs in SF you need to know to fully understand this. In SF, a lot of homeless stay in golden gate park. Consequently, there are oftentimes people that do drugs, have fires, etc. there and leave around dirty needles. Since this park is visited often, SF parkgoers don't want to find syringes where they bring their kids to play, or do other park crap. Since the syringes in the park deal was becoming such an issue, I can see why the city would start doing this.

Lots of articles in the chronicle about the issue during the summer.

SF has been doing needle exchange for awhile as well.

[aurik]

I didn't see this, but do they require rehab commitments before they allow people use this? If not, what is the fucking point?

Because addicts wouldn't commit to rehab, and we still want them doing drugs in a way that doesn't endanger the community. It's like giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants. They're going to drive regardless; we should allow them to get insurance and put them through standardized proficiency tests so that they don't pose nearly the hazard.

[Stee]

So the people just bring in their own stash of drugs and inject them in front of a nurse or is this clinic supplying them with clean drugs? If they're just bringing in their own stash whats the difference when a lot of deaths from drugs are related to bad drugs? I basically have no knowledge of drugs so I'm probably way off here.

[aurik]

So the people just bring in their own stash of drugs and inject them in front of a nurse or is this clinic supplying them with clean drugs? If they're just bringing in their own stash whats the difference when a lot of deaths from drugs are related to bad drugs? I basically have no knowledge of drugs so I'm probably way off here.

They bring their own drugs, they just inject them in an environment where they can get medical attention if they need it, get clean needles and dispose of used needles safely, et cetera.

[Headspace]

What about Jenkem?

[sephir]

weve had this up here for a long time so its nothing new.

The point of these programs is to allow Drug users to be safe from things such as AIDS (instead of them sharing needles they provide clean ones) and ODs. Although I would much rather see them seek some sort of rehab and fix their program until that time they should be able to at live until then.

[Khamsin]

weve had this up here for a long time so its nothing new.

The point of these programs is to allow Drug users to be safe from things such as AIDS (instead of them sharing needles they provide clean ones) and ODs. Although I would much rather see them seek some sort of rehab and fix their program until that time they should be able to at live until then.

You'd think they'd OD just as often under nurse supervision as without. The only difference is they'll have medical attention afterward. It's not like the nurse is going to step forward and say "Whoa, that's way too much!"

As for the argument that druggies harm innocent people as well as themselves, how does this program reduce harm to others? I could care less about the druggies themselves, if they're stupid enough to do the kinds of drugs that kill you or use/share dirty needles. The exception being if this really does increase the number of rehabs and those people end up doing something productive.

[aurik]

weve had this up here for a long time so its nothing new.

The point of these programs is to allow Drug users to be safe from things such as AIDS (instead of them sharing needles they provide clean ones) and ODs. Although I would much rather see them seek some sort of rehab and fix their program until that time they should be able to at live until then.

You'd think they'd OD just as often under nurse supervision as without. The only difference is they'll have medical attention afterward. It's not like the nurse is going to step forward and say "Whoa, that's way too much!"

As for the argument that druggies harm innocent people as well as themselves, how does this program reduce harm to others? I could care less about the druggies themselves, if they're stupid enough to do the kinds of drugs that kill you or use/share dirty needles. The exception being if this really does increase the number of rehabs and those people end up doing something productive.

Well any less stray syringes in Golden Gate park is a good thing.

[AlexRuzhyo]

The fuck?

shouldnt police just sit outside and fine them non-stop.

Then the druggies wouldn't go there and not die.

Although, maybe I'm just a horrible person, but wouldn't it be better to let natural selection work it's magic and allow the druggies who OD and share/use dirty needles to clear themselves out of the gene pool?

If this really gets more people off drugs and transforms them into productive members of society than other options, I'm all for it. But if all this does is reduce drug-related deaths, but they're still doing the same shit over and over, then I'd rather let them use their dirty needles.

This would be great if people with drug addictions and disease didn't affect the innocent people around them. It doesn't matter how cautious or legal the activity is, the influences of addiction are still far reaching and often have terrible consequences for innocent people.

Generally true.

My uncle OD'd and caught the house on fire. Before he passed out he was warming up oil to make something on the stove around 2am. Thankfully, my grandmother woke up before the fire was serious and the family got out. Not only did he lose his life, but the rest of the family has to live under stressful conditions and heartache for the past 6 months.

The area I live in his highly populated with drugs. There's very few aspects of my life that haven't been effected by it, although be it more of an indirect influence.

Imo, the program may not solve all the problems or be the correct response, but it does take care of a few issues that come with a drug habit.

[Egon]

You guys can't be serious. This is a freakin crime. Giving ppl a safe place to do drugs won't solve anything cept create more druggies.

[Xiona]

You guys can't be serious. This is a freakin crime. Giving ppl a safe place to do drugs won't solve anything cept create more druggies.

people are going to do the drugs regardless of where, providing a place to get clean needles, drop off old ones and a place to do the drugs has waay more pros than cons.

Slowing the spread of HIV and other infections, proper disposal of needles. im not sure where they do their drugs usually but getting them into a central location has benefits. personally them ODing isnt a problem with me but at least if they die from an OD in a place like this their body isnt rotting somewhere random. easier to have a few police officers in the area of the clinic for when people get out of control or OD and die than having them respond to calls about dead bodies.