Safe Injection Sites in Philadelphia, I don’t like the concept. Who in their right mind would want a safe injection facility in their neighborhood? Let’s just start there.
I keep thinking about the locations in Philadelphia where people who are addicted to Opioids can go and get methadone or suboxone to calm down their body’s craving for the harder drugs. Out in front of those locations any day of the week you can witness addicts standing, or rather, leaning, and all bent over after they’ve gotten their “fix” for the day. They look a hot mess, high as a kite, and just appear to not have the ability to control their own body functions. It’s as if you’ve driven into zombie town or something when you drive past 49th and Parkside, for example, one location where there’s a facility for drug addicts to go and get a shot of Methadone.
The concept of these “safe injection sites, the way I understand it and the way I’ve heard so many people discuss it on radio programs, in the newspapers, and in TV reports, would be like a scene from Kensington. After folks go into a would-be-safe injection site and get their hits, what do they do? They would come outside, all wired up, barely able to walk, and again, looking like a zombie from a horror flick.
Philadelphia 7th District City Councilwoman Quetcy Lozado, during a recent appearance on Wake Up With WURD, commented about concerns from residents in the Kensington area of her district. “There’s a list of things that have been told to the people who live here. Those things have not been done, so why should the people of this community believe anyone now? We have to take every measure necessary, possible, and available in the community to start a process of protecting themselves and their quality of life. That’s what I’m committed to do.”
Councilwoman Lazado is the author of the bill that addresses safe injection sites in communities across the City of Philadelphia. She stated, “My bill says that no one can come into a community in any district that is listed on this bill and that has signed onto this bill. You cannot open a safe injection site by right. You must go before the community, and you must go before the Philadelphia Zoning Board and ask for a variance. Before they do that, they must go through the community process. According to Lazado, her bill would mean that if the city of Philadelphia and the providers determine that they are ready to open up a safe injection site, they would only be able to go to one particular area and do it without community input. Lazado’s bill creates a process whereby safe injection site providers would have to go to the community. This would be mandatory that they come to the community and get community support before they open up”.
Ultimately, the Philadelphia city council had a decisive 14-1 vote to override Mayor Kenney’s veto, which bans safe injection sites in the city. The city council of Philadelphia has essentially banned the opening of safe injection sites in the city. City Council members voted 14-1 to override the mayor’s veto and pass a bill that prohibits the sites in a number of the city’s ten city council districts.
Organizations that want to operate safe injection sites would need to obtain a zoning variance and community approval to open a facility.
Supporters of safe injection sites argue that they can save lives and help clean up communities. Others argue areas where safe injection sites might have been approved would turn into scenes like what ,…
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