Philly residents in areas affected by overdoses want a say in talks over a supervised injection site

Several dozen people gathered outside the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia on Wednesday afternoon to protest talks between the Department of Justice and advocates who hope to open a supervised injection site in the city.

Last month, the Justice Department signaled that it may be considering a change in its position on the sites, where addicted people can use drugs under medical supervision and be revived if they overdose. Under the Trump administration, the local U.S. Attorney’s Office battled in court to block the opening of Safehouse, the nonprofit formed in 2018 to open a site.

But now, the department says it’s “evaluating” such facilities and discussing “appropriate guardrails” with stakeholders.

» READ MORE: Justice Department reevaluating supervised injection sites after its yearslong effort to block one in Philly

Ronda Goldfein, Safehouse’s vice president, said the nonprofit has spoken with the Justice Department about the legality of supervised injection sites and “a potential settlement” of the department’s lawsuit against Safehouse, filed under the Trump administration.

In a statement, city spokesperson Kevin Lessard reiterated Philadelphia’s support for the sites, calling them “a powerful tool to our existing strategies” for dealing with skyrocketing overdose deaths. In 2020, 1,214 people died of an overdose in Philadelphia, the second-highest death toll on record.

“Conversations about an overdose prevention site are in very early stages,” Lessard said.

On Wednesday, some residents of communities where overdoses are high — and where Safehouse has considered opening a site — said they wanted in on those conversations.

“I think the community would support [a supervised injection site] in a hospital or a medical center,” said Shannon Farrell, who heads the Harrowgate Civic Association and helped organize the protest. She said she would welcome the opportunity for community members to discuss their concerns about a supervised injection site with federal officials and Safehouse. “We’re not upset about what happens on the inside; we’re upset about what happens on the outside,” she said.

» READ MORE: Philly’s journey to a supervised injection site spans years as overdose rates soar

Daisie Cardona, another protest organizer from Kensington, said some community members are worried that a supervised injection site would fuel drug dealing and the gun violence that stems from it. “Everyone is going to try and sell around there,” she said.

Other community members said they’d felt blindsided when Safehouse announced it had been offered leases in Kensington in 2019 and then in South Philadelphia in early 2020. Brooke Feldman, a harm reduction advocate, said she supported the concept of a site, but not one run by Safehouse.

Some speakers at the protest were opposed to the concept entirely. Councilmember David Oh called the sites illegal and said that “anywhere in the United States … you cannot provide heroin injection sites and paraphernalia. This city is going to abet the breaking of the law.”

(While a U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that Safehouse’s operations would be illegal, the case is still in litigation. In New York City, a separate federal jurisdiction, two supervised injection sites have been operating since last fall; the Department of Justice has not moved to close them, and staffers there have reversed more than 100 overdoses.)

“I think everyone here has lost someone to addiction,” said Patty-Pat Kozlowski, of Port Richmond On Patrol and Civic (PROPAC). She said she did not want people with addiction to die, but added: “We want treatment, not enabling.”

Advocates for supervised injection sites have long countered that the sites are a crucial connecting point for people who aren’t ready to stop using drugs, and building trust that can eventually help them into treatment. A handful of counterprotesters stood nearby Wednesday’s gathering, holding signs that read “Harm Reduction Saves Lives.”

» READ MORE: Family members of Philly’s overdose victims find solace in a city-run bereavement group

Roz Pichardo, a Kensington resident who runs the antiviolence campaign Operation Save Our City and often reverses overdoses she witnesses, said it’s imperative to save lives in her neighborhood. “It’s tough living in Kensington, but it’s where we need a site the most,” she said. “It’s where everyone is. Just because [some drug users] aren’t from here doesn’t mean they’re not our neighbors. They live in our community.

“The first time safe consumption sites were brought up, maybe that wasn’t done the right way,” she said. “But now, people need to get the ball rolling and get it open. We have to live up to what’s happening in the community — and in my community, people are using drugs and overdosing.”