Awash in overdoses, Seattle creates safe sites for addicts to inject illegal drugs

The sites are not currently legal under federal law
The Washington Post (US)
Friday, January 27, 2017

dcr copenhagenOfficials in Seattle approved the nation’s first “safe-injection” sites for users of heroin and other illegal drugs, calling the move a drastic but necessary response to an epidemic of addiction that is claiming tens of thousands of lives each year. The sites — which offer addicts clean needles, medical supervision and quick access to drugs that reverse the effects of an overdose — have long been popular in Europe. Now, with the U.S. death toll rising, the idea is gaining traction in a number of American cities, including Boston, New York City and Ithaca, N.Y.