A stark picture of the toll that addiction is taking in Maryland came clear this month when the state issued its latest statistics: 2,089 people died from overdoses last year, an increase of two-thirds over 2015. Almost nine out of ten of these deaths were caused by opioids. In response to the epidemic, some are calling for approval of “safe consumption sites”--places where people can use illegal drugs with medical supervision.
We speak to professor Susan Sherman of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, who has conducted research on safe-consumption sites, and William Miller, a street outreach educator with Behavioral Health System Baltimore and a peer leader with Baltimore POWER.
The Abell Report: Safe Consumption Spaces: A Strategy for Baltimore City
Cost-benefit analysis: Safe Space for Illegal Drug Consumption in Baltimore Would Save $6 Million a Year
Vancouver Coastal Health: Insite, a legal supervised injection site