In addition to letting people violate the law, Safehouse would be communicating to kids that the door is always open.
A year after the United States registered the deadliest number of drug overdoses on record, a Philadelphia nonprofit is urging the Supreme Court to allow people to freely inject themselves with drugs at “harm reduction” centers.
After Philadelphia officials expressed support for the idea of such a center, where drug addicts could ostensibly continue using with the benefit of onsite medical attention, the nonprofit group Safehouse formed in 2018. But in February 2019, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania William McSwain filed a lawsuit asking federal judges to rule that supervised consumption sites like the one Safehouse was planning were illegal per the “crack house” statute of the Controlled Substances Act, which criminalized running a facility for drug use.
After a district court ruled against McSwain, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, an appeals court ruled 2-1 in his favor in January 2021.
Safehouse is not giving in yet, however. The group asked the Supreme Court to review its decision last month. “People are in a bit of a waiting and watching game, to see whether the [Biden] administration is going to criminalize [supervised consumption sites],” said Miriam Krinsky, executive director of the group that led the brief told the Associated Press.
Last Friday, dozens of former police officers and prosecutors filed an amicus brief claiming the “crack house” statute does not relate to supposed “harm reduction” initiatives. But such an argument hinges on the disproved notion that letting addicts shoot up has anything to do with “reducing harm.”
Safehouse intends to create an atmosphere in Philadelphia that lets addicts bring drugs to buildings, use them, and get medical care when needed. In addition to Safehouse, other like-minded groups like the far-left Philadelphia Overdose Prevention Network back the effort.
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