Safer consumption spaces in the United States: Uniting for a national movement

On September 27 and 28, 2016, Project Inform convened a 2-day think tank in Baltimore, MD entitled, “Safer Consumption Spaces in the United States: Uniting for a National Movement”.

The meeting brought together a group of 50 harm reductionists, epidemiologists, lawyers, policy experts and people who use drugs to share experiences and discuss strategies for moving forward to bring safer consumption spaces (SCS) to the U.S.

At the time the think tank was conceived, there was significant movement towards opening SCS/ SIFs in several U.S. cities and towns. Ithaca, NY included SCS in their report, “The Ithaca Plan: A Public Health and Safety Approach to Drugs and Drug Policy” as an important component of their response to the opioid crisis. Similarly, the Seattle and King County formed the “Yes to SCS” coalition, a group of people who use drugs, lawyers, medical providers, businesses, and other stakeholders to push the SCS agenda in their city. From there, a task force was formed and they published the “Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force: Final Report and Recommendations” which called for the opening of at least two SCS (called “Community Health Engagement Locations” or “CHELS”) in their community. The Harm Reduction Coalition released a report entitled “Alternatives to Public Injecting.” New York City embarked on a campaign—SIF NYC—to build a coalition of public health service providers and criminal justice reform advocates to call on the city to implement SCS to address problems related to substance use. In addition to these formal approaches, a number of other cities were at various stages of development in their respective SCS advocacy.

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