Safe Injection Site Plans In Philly Shut Down By Appeals Court

Philadelphia PA

12 January, 2021

3:50 PM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's plans to open a facility in which drugs such as heroin would be administered by healthcare professionals in hopes of combatting the opioid epidemic have been shut down. A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled 2-1 that the plans to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia violates federal drug law, commonly referred to as the "crackhouse statute." According to Action News, Third Circuit Appeals Court Judge Stephanos Bibas said the effort to open the site "admirable," but ultimately ruled the site violate the law. The decision is a reversal from a ruling handed down by a district judge, who said the site was legal as its goal was reducing drug use through counseling and other services. United States Attorney William M. McSwain, a vocal opponent of the proposal, applauded the recent decision. "I'm pleased to report that the rule of law is still alive and well in Philadelphia – having been re-affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which held that it is a federal crime to open a heroin injection site or 'consumption room' for illegal drug use," he said. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a frequent target of McSwain's, said Tuesday that the stakes of the opioid epidemic are high and called the drug war a failure. "Thousands of our neighbors and loved ones – children, parents, siblings, childhood friends – who needlessly lost their lives to tainted drugs or substance use disorder,"he said. "Most, if not all of us, know and have cared for someone who has struggled with safe substance use and feel that pain."