War on drugs requires new tactics: Our view

published on May 16, 2016 by The Editorial Board, in USA Today

Supervised heroin injection sites show promise in Canada, Europe.

With an average 78 Americans dying each day from overdoses of prescription opioid painkillers and heroin, it’s clear that the U.S. is losing the war on drugs. The epidemic has spread to suburbia and rural areas. The death toll from heroin has more than tripled since 2010. And the nation is desperate for answers.

Congress is working on bipartisan measures that would give states, localities and non-profit groups money to finance an array of education, treatment and law enforcement programs. Final passage can't come a moment too soon. But it's all rather standard fare.

To deal with people who are already addicted, some unconventional thinking is required, and here's one idea worth considering: supervised injection facilities, where an addict can bring heroin and inject it in a clean, safe environment under medical supervision, with easy access to counselors and health care referrals.

Yes, we know, this might look crazy at first glance. We thought so, too, but the results where this approach has been tried suggest it just might make sense.

This is not a ploy to legalize heroin, weaken law enforcement or replace treatment. It's an idea that has been effective in Europe, where about 90 such centers operate, and in Vancouver, where the only center in North America opened in 2003.

According to researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the Canadian center has prevented overdose deaths, reduced the risk of HIV and AIDS through the use of clean needles, cut down on public injections and their dangerous debris of used needles, and promoted detox and treatment.

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BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

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War on drugs requires new tactics: Our view

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