New York aims to launch safe injection sites to fight opioid abuse

CC Flickr Marco Verch

News

New York aims to launch safe injection sites to fight opioid abuse

8 May 2018

New York's mayor is pushing for a plan to bring safe injection sites for illegal drug users to the US metropolis in a bid to reduce ever-rising overdose numbers.

The United States—plagued by an epidemic of fatal overdoses related to opioid use—does not yet have any such sites, which have seen success in Canada and Europe.

"After a rigorous review of similar efforts across the world, and after careful consideration of public health and safety expert views, we believe overdose prevention centers will save lives and get more New Yorkers into the treatment they need to beat this deadly addiction," Mayor Bill de Blasio wrote on Twitter Thursday.

The mayor's missive came after the publication of a detailed report on the issue from the city's Department of Health.

Though crime in New York has fallen to a historic low for modern times, it recorded 1,441 overdose deaths in 2017—a record since the city began taking such statistics.