“Safe injection sites” for drug use? Connecticut lawmakers are considering it

Connecticut is facing a sharp rise in overdose deaths. On Thursday, state lawmakers were presented with a controversial solution: supervised injection sites for drug users.

Proponents told the House Health Committee that the facilities prevent overdoses and keep syringes off the street, but they could also violate federal law.

“ONE MORE NEEDLE”

Pastor Eddy Michel was stunned by what he discovered outside Shekinah Glory First Tabernacle Church in Bridgeport this summer.

“We have to check here every day to see if needles are coming in,” he told News 12 Connecticut in July.

“We don’t let our children go out to play because you just don’t know,” Michel said.

“SAFE INJECTION SITES”

The growing overdose crisis is why Connecticut is considering “safe injection sites” where users can consume their drugs under medical supervision. On Tuesday, addiction activists and legal experts urged the state's lawmakers to legalize the sites.

“These programs can and will be successful,” said Liz Evans of Liberation Programs in Bridgeport. “At the site in Canada that I helped build over 20 years ago, over 4 million injections have been administered, thousands of overdoses reversed and not a single life has been lost.”

“The court's decision reaffirms that 'safe' injection sites are a violation of federal law,” Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said after the ruling. “The Department supports efforts to curb the opioid crisis ravaging this country, but injection sites are not the solution. There are more productive ways to combat drug abuse.”

But New York City set up supervised injection sites anyway, using private funding sources, and neighboring Rhode Island approved them in 2021.

“Never admit that safe injection sites, no matter what name they use, are illegal,” said Scott Burris of Temple University Law School. “That's a matter of opinion.”

LEGAL IN CT?

In 2023, legal concerns prompted Connecticut lawmakers to abandon a proposal for a pilot program in three cities.

Beyond federal law, others are concerned about safety.

“In New Haven, we have a large methadone clinic with documented incidents of frequent drug trafficking and violence, including a murder,” then-Republican New Haven mayoral candidate Tom Goldenberg told lawmakers in March 2023.

Some Democratic lawmakers hope to revive the proposal during the 2025 General Assembly session, but supporters acknowledge that the prospects for doing so are bleak because of existing federal law.