The opioid epidemic has ravaged Philadelphia. Many in the city believe drastic measures are necessary to stem a scourge of overdoses, including a radical plan to provide a safe space where people can use illegal drugs while under supervision. Though the plan for a safe injection site has local support, the city finds itself in the middle of a major legal fight with the federal government, the Washington Post reports. The Justice Department sued the nonprofit Safehouse, arguing that opening the facility in Philadelphia — the first U.S. supervised consumption facility — would violate federal law. Likening the idea to a crack house, federal officials say allowing the use of illicit drugs with impunity enables and exacerbates the intractable opioid problem.
Safehouse and its supporters argue that innovative local action is the only thing that will help solve Philadelphia’s opioid crisis and that ensuring users don’t fatally overdose is an immediate public need. Philadelphia is home to one of the nation’s largest open-air drug markets, and much of the heroin sold there is laced with fentanyl. The death toll from opioids in Philadelphia has been staggering: Safehouse said more than 2,300 Philadelphians have died of opioid overdoses in just two years. The overdose rate in Philadelphia is four times the homicide rate; were the statistics reversed “there’d be absolute citizen outcry, they’d have National Guard in the streets,” said former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who is on the Safehouse board and said the organization plans to move forward even with federal opposition. Safehouse wants an injunction to prevent the government from shutting the facility down. The lawsuit could serve as a test case, as cities nationwide look to open supervised injection facilities. Officials in Ithaca, N.Y.; San Francisco; Seattle; and New York have expressed interest in opening the facilities.