Justice Dept. signals it may allow safe injection sites

NEW YORK — A year after winning a major court battle against the opening of so-called safe injection sites -- safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics with protections against fatal overdoses — the Justice Department is signaling it might be open to allowing them. For months after President Joe Biden took office last year, the Justice Department — under Attorney General Merrick Garland — had refused to take a public stance on safe consumption sites. Safehouse lawyers Ronda Goldfein and Ilana Eisenstein said they hoped the Justice Department’s new statement “signals the prospect of a positive resolution, not just for Philadelphia but for any place in America that seeks to provide overdose prevention services.” Some other arms of the federal government also have signaled some willingness at least to explore safe injection facilities, if not yet embrace them. Asked about the New York sites, White House drug czar Dr. Rahul Gupta told CNN in December he was “interested in looking at the science and data behind all of the emerging harm reduction practices.” Later that month, the National Institutes of Health issued a call for harm reduction research that mentioned safe consumption sites, among other approaches.