Supervised injection site in South Philadelphia will not open — at least for now

By Aubrey Whelan and Anna Orso / The Philadelphia Inquirer

After intense opposition, the backers of a supervised injection site in South Philadelphia have placed their plans on hold, a decision announced a short while before the medical center set to rent them space said it would no longer allow the site to open in its building.

Officials at Safehouse, the nonprofit formed to open the site, said that a federal judge’s ruling grants them the legal authority to open but that they wanted to hold more community meetings before doing so. The nonprofit’s landlords at Constitution Health Plaza also cited community concerns in their decision to cancel Safehouse’s tenancy.

After intense opposition, the backers of a supervised injection site in South Philadelphia have placed their plans on hold, a decision announced a short while before the medical center set to rent them space said it would no longer allow the site to open in its building.

Officials at Safehouse, the nonprofit formed to open the site, said that a federal judge’s ruling grants them the legal authority to open but that they wanted to hold more community meetings before doing so. The nonprofit’s landlords at Constitution Health Plaza also cited community concerns in their decision to cancel Safehouse’s tenancy.