Federal Court Upholds On-Site Drug Use at Safehouse
In
a decision that could be of interest to municipalities seeking to combat the growing drug epidemic, a federal
court in Pennsylvania recently ruled that safehouses do not violate the
Controlled Substances Act when they provide facilities where drugs are used
under monitored, sterile conditions. U.S.
v. Safehouse.
Safehouse,
a nonprofit directed at fighting drug addiction and overdose, sought to open an
“Overdose Prevention Site” to offer a variety of services aimed at preventing
the spread of disease, administering medical care, and encouraging drug users
to enter treatment. Specifically, the Safehouse facility plans to offer
medication-assisted treatment, medical care, referrals to a variety of other
services, and the use of medically supervised consumption and observation
rooms. Drug users who choose to use the medically supervised consumption room
will have access to sterilized consumption equipment and fentanyl test strips.
Safehouse staff members supervise the
participants’ consumption and are ready to intervene with reversal agents to
prevent fatal overdose. Safehouse staff does not, however, handle or provide
any of the drugs to the participants.
After
Safehouse announced its plans, the federal government filed a lawsuit claiming
that the on-site consumption of illegal drugs at Safehouse’s facility violated
the Controlled Substances Act, which prohibits any property owner from
maintaining a place that facilitates the use of a controlled substance. On October
2, 2019, a federal judge ruled in favor of Safehouse and rejected the government’s
contentions. In that ruling, the judge stated that the “the ultimate goal of
Safehouse’s proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it.” The judge
reasoned that the stated purpose for Safehouse’s facility was to administer
medical care and encourage drug treatment by connecting drug users with social
services, and that none of these purposes are consistent with a criminal intent
to facilitate drug use.
Post Authored by Rain Montero & Julie Tappendorf
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