One of my top TV serials is HBO’s The Wire. It fascinated me on several levels in terms of the story as well as the portrayal of Baltimore. In season 3 episode 4 the concept of Hamsterdam was introduced – where they section a “Safe haven” for drug addicts – the police does not intervene.
Recently the city of Philadelphia passed a “Safe haven” law which allowed opiod addicts access to clinics where they can shoot up. Referred to as a supervised injection site, they allow for the addict access to clean syringes and other items needed to get high- all while having medical staff on standby incase they overdose.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/philadelphia-residents-reacts-after-judge-rules-supervised-injection-site-does-not-violate-federal-law
Take a minute for that to sink in.
I have been back and forth on this issue- on one hand I argue that it’s better to be in the open and get help if things go south, quickly instead of getting treated for other issues such as infected needles etc. This also gives addicts access to help if they need it by giving them counselling and support where they congregate – instead of them having to take the effort to go to a de-addiction center.
On the other hand, it’s giving addicts a greenlight to say- hey- come here and get high- its like a BYOD party.
While I am hoping something like this will help ease the current crisis, by giving addicts avenues to seek help and not overdose or get infected from non-sterile conditions.
To end, “The ultimate goal of Safehouse’s proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it,” the judge wrote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsterdam