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The Manhattan facility will provide blank needles, administer opposite overdose medications and provide users with options for addiction remedies.
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By Jeffery C. Mays and Andy Newman
In a bid to curb the rise in overdose deaths caused by heavy illicit drugs, New York City will authorize the opening of two supervised injection sites in Manhattan starting Tuesday.
Trained staff at two sites, in the East Harlem and Washington Heights neighborhoods, will supply blank needles, administer naloxone to opposing overdoses and provide users with options for addiction remedies, city fitness officials said. Users will bring their own medications.
New York, the most populous city in the country, will be the first city in the U. S. USA In opening officially authorized injection sites, amenities that warring parties see as magnets for drug abuse, but advocates praise as a less punitive and more effective technique for combating drug addiction.
Other cities such as Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Seattle have taken steps in favor of supervised injection but have yet to open sites amid debate over the legal and ethical implications of punishing illegal drug use.
Both Manhattan sites already function as needle exchange programs, and some citizens of the network have already raised considerations about the resolution to place them in the less affluent spaces of the district.
In an interview, Dr. Dave A. Chokshi, the city’s fitness commissioner, said the city is moving forward to cope with a public fitness crisis.
“2020, unfortunately, has been the deadliest year on record for overdoses, whether it’s here in New York and across the country. Every 4 hours, he dies of an overdose in New York,” he said. “We feel a deep conviction and also a sense of urgency to open overdose prevention centers. “
Mayor Bill de Blasio began advocating for supervised injection sites in 2018, raising their use and good luck in European and Canadian cities. The resolution to officially authorize the opening of the sites comes in the last weeks of the mayor’s term and as he considers a candidacy for governor. He said in a statement that the resolution would show other peoples that “after decades of failure, a smarter technique is possible. “
The mayor also sent a letter to suppliers promising “not to take coercive action” against their operations and saying the city had ensured law enforcement.
“We’ve tried to find the right balance between law enforcement, rehabilitation and prevention,” Cyrus R. said. Vance Jr. , the Manhattan prosecutor, in an interview. ” I would rather the other people who are going to shoot do so in a safe and secure position than in a McDonald’s bathroom, alley or subway ladder. “
Nationally, the number of overdose deaths rose to more than 100,000 in the 12 months through April, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, an increase of about 30% from the 78,000 overdose deaths at the same time last year.
More than 2,000 other people died from drug overdoses in New York City in 2020, the highest level overall since the city began tracking overdose deaths in 2000. In the first 3 months of 2021, there were approximately six hundred overdose deaths, according to initial data. .
The city will not operate or assign staff to injection drug sites, Dr. Chokshi said. offer supervised injections at existing sites, he said. The city funds any of the partnerships.
“I know deep in my soul that we’re doing the right thing,” said Sam Rivera, CEO of OnPoint. “Data doesn’t lead the way. ” He said the sites are expected to begin operations on Tuesday.
Federal law, however, has not yet been upheld. A federal law known as the “crack law” makes it illegal to operate, own, or contract a site for the purpose of employing illegal substances. The Justice Department, under the Trump administration, sued in 2019 to save it from opening a supervised injection site in Philadelphia.
The Biden administration has followed damage relief strategies but has not explicitly approved supervised injection sites. Chokshi said the city has had “productive conversations” with federal and state fitness officials, and believes amenities will be allowed to work because of a “shared sense of urgency” related to combat opposing the overdose crisis.
Michael Botticelli, former director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under President Barack Obama, said the Justice Department failed to prosecute states when recreational marijuana use began to be legalized nationwide.
“Many cities are waiting for someone to be the first, especially to see what the reaction of the federal Department of Justice will be,” he said. Botticelli. ” It’s incredibly important, not only from a public fitness perspective, but also for other communities across the country that have this to be able to point the finger at New York City and say we’re doing it in the United States. “
In Ast Harlem, which is already home to a large concentration of methadone clinics and other addiction treatment centers, Eva Chan, a member of Community Board 11, prepared for the opening of an injection site and lamented that it would only strengthen the neighborhood’s status as a position where the drug use and sale is tolerated.
“If each and every community in New York City has a site and it’s not right next to my house, I’m not opposed,” Chan said. “But the explanation for why other people shoot here is because they’ve been East Harlem like a sell-off for a long time, so they’re not addressing the root cause.
Proponents of supervised injection sites argue that the amenities will not only prevent you from overdose deaths, but can actually stop the challenge of public drug use that leaves a trail of used syringes on the streets and parks.
An official with a network of homeless shelters in the Bronx, which is home to some of the neighborhoods with the highest overdose rates in the city, said supervised injection sites can also reduce homelessness on the street.
“For many of our homeless street clients, the explanation for why they’re there is because they have a serious addiction,” said Scott Auwarter, deputy executive director of Bronxworks. “For them, being in a facility, being able to use it safely, gives us the ability to rent them out and maybe convince some of them to take a low-threshold bed somewhere. “
Proponents of injection sites are preparing for this moment. On November 7, a birthday party was held at the East 126th Street site prior to the announcement.
Dr. Chinazo O. Cunningham, assistant commissioner in the city’s fitness branch, who has since been named commissioner of the State Office of Addiction Services and Support, broke a bottle of Veuve Clicquot. “It’s actually an incredible moment,” he said in a speech captured in a video that was provided to the New York Times. “To bring evidence-based rescue and remedy projects to the other people who deserve it, despite everything to do it with love, respect and dignity, I’m actually incredibly proud to be here right now. “
While the birthday party would possibly have been premature, the East 126th Street needle exchange has already been operating as an unofficial injection point for months, at least, according to two former heroin users who said it was given to them several times in the spring. (Mr. Rivera demonstrated that “unauthorized” use took place. )
Inside the space, there are bathrooms reserved for drug addicts, provided with a convertible chair, table and table, said the couple, who asked to be known only by their names and the initials of the circle of relatives, Jonathan D. and Kira. D. , so as not to jeopardize Jonathan’s work.
“If they’re in the bathroom for more than 15 minutes, they knock on the door and ask if it’s okay,” said Kira, 26. “If you don’t respond, they come in. “
After the injection, users are encouraged to move into a waiting room covered with chairs, “much like the D. M. V. ,” said Jonathan, 36, where medical cleaning staff are in a position to treat overdoses.
“People who nod your head too hard, make sure you nod your head and don’t fall,” Jonathan said.
Jonathan, who now uses methadone, was delighted to be informed that the city, despite everything, would allow the site to operate openly.
“It’s time,” he says.
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