State law to allow supervised centers for drug users stalls

SACRAMENTO — A California lawmaker’s proposal to allow cities and counties in the state to create legal and supervised facilities where intravenous drug users could inject themselves was met with strong opposition Tuesday.

A handful of cities across the nation, including San Francisco, have expressed an interest in creating facilities where intravenous drug users can legally shoot up under the supervision of on-site medical personnel to reduce the risk of overdose.

Eggman said the legislation is needed to ensure cities and counties in California have the legal authority to create supervised injection facilities if they choose to.

“While San Francisco has a long tradition of moving forward ahead of state law, federal law, etc., we feel the state law needs to be changed to provide the ability to do this in accordance with state law,” said Laura Thomas, the deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance.

While criminal liability may be off the table, it would only be a matter of time before a participating agency is sued when a drug user overdoses and an innocent person is killed by someone driving away from the facility.

Canadian Sen. Larry Campbell, a former Vancouver mayor and former police officer, urged lawmakers on the Assembly Public Safety Committee to pass the bill, saying that since he helped create the first supervised injection site in North America in 2003, deaths have been prevented.