CNN
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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously authorized laws permitting non-profits to open and function overdose prevention websites with non-public funding, Mayor London Breed introduced in a information launch.
The laws eliminated “a just lately recognized allowing barrier” included in laws from 2020 that didn’t permit overdose prevention applications to open till the state approved the town to take action, no matter in the event that they had been publicly or privately funded, the discharge stated.
“This laws is a part of our work to convey down the variety of deadly overdoses and sort out the challenges pushed by fentanyl head on,” Breed stated. “We are going to proceed to work with our non-profits companions who’re attempting to open overdose prevention websites, absolutely implement our well being methods to assist these battling dependancy in our streets, and work with legislation enforcement to shut the open-air drug markets.”
San Francisco recorded 620 drug overdose deaths in 2022, 640 in 2021 and 725 in 2020, in accordance with preliminary knowledge from San Francisco’s Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner and offered by the mayor’s workplace.
Federal and California state legal guidelines at present bar so-called supervised injection websites from utilizing authorities funds to function. San Francisco’s 2020 ordinance would permit them to function however solely with state approval which was tied to a invoice that died in a State meeting committee that summer season. The brand new ordinance will permit non-profits to maneuver ahead with this system by working on non-public funds “whereas the Metropolis waits for federal steerage on whether or not it could possibly fund such applications with public {dollars},” in accordance with the information launch.
Overdose prevention websites permit customers to convey beforehand obtained medicine, equivalent to heroin and fentanyl, and use them below the supervision of employees skilled to reply within the occasion of an overdose or different medical emergency. Additionally they present counseling and referrals to different social and well being providers. Opponents, nevertheless, are involved such websites would promote and normalize drug use and appeal to crime.
California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a invoice final yr that will have created such websites in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Oakland. Whereas recognizing the doable advantages of this system, he warned {that a} robust plan was wanted to keep away from “unintended penalties.”
New York turned the primary state to determine overdose prevention websites in 2021, that are operated by non-profits with out public funding and which acted as a mannequin for San Francisco’s ordinance, the discharge stated.