INJECTION: San Francisco plans to open injection sites next summer.
By Andrew Carlson, Editor
Smallpox. Yellow fever. Influenza. HIV. Cholera. These diseases have swept through America in raging epidemics, killing thousands of people before being safely contained. Now there is a new critical threat to human lives in both America and around the globe. Opioids.
Opioids are depressants, drugs that temporarily stimulate receptors in the brain to relieve the feeling of pain. Overuse leads to addiction, physiological dependence, and in many cases, death. In the past, America has pulled through as a country to curb deadly epidemics and stop these terrible substances and diseases from taking people’s lives. Sadly, this is not the case for the opioid epidemic.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health unanimously endorsed a recommendation to open the nation’s first legal safe injection sites. These facilities offer clean needles to anyone off the streets to consume drugs such as heroin and fentanyl. “You show up; you check in; you use your drugs; you hang out for a while, interact with the staff and then go on your way,” Lauren Thomas, the California state director for the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, said. According to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 63,000 American civilians died from drug overdose in 2016. In comparison, 58,220 Americans died overseas in the Vietnam War. At this rate, over half a million Americans are predicted to die from overdose in the next 10 years, surpassing the number of Americans killed in World War II, the bloodiest altercation in history. The mayor of San Francisco, Mark Farrell, claims that this safe injection site is a necessity to hinder the overdose rate and “We absolutely need to give it a try.”
However, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), medically assisted detoxification is the first stage of addiction treatment. So how does opening a facility where people can openly use drugs solve the problem? Detoxification is medical treatment of an alcoholic or drug addict involving abstention from the drug until the bloodstream is free of toxins. It is certainly not offering heroin to people who are already addicted to it! Soon, over 22,000 intravenous drug users in San Francisco will be able to freely fill up on “Big H” anytime they want. On the bright side, these supervised consumption facilities will save the city money— nearly 3.5 million dollars. Apparently, human lives do have a price-at least in San Francisco.
As of right now, these centers are illegal in the United States (there are over 120 around the globe), but the law won’t hinder San Francisco. State legislators are attempting to pass a bill that will protect anyone associated with the injection sites from arrest and drug charges. According to Thomas, the sites will probably open this summer. “It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that San Francisco has prioritized the health, safety, and well-being of its residents over state or federal law,” she said. It is clear that many people in this country are disillusioned with the concepts of health and safety. The scientifically proven effects of extended heroin use include, but are not limited to:
- Inflammation of the gums
- Constipation
- Cold sweats
- Itching
- Weakening of the immune system
- Coma
- Respiratory (breathing) illnesses
- Muscular weakness, partial paralysis
- Reduced sexual capacity and long-term impotence in men
- Menstrual disturbance in women
- Inability to achieve orgasm (women and men)
- Loss of memory and intellectual performance
- Introversion
- Depression
- Pustules on the face
- Loss of appetite
- Insomnia
- Tuberculosis
- Collapsed veins and arteries
- Arthritis
Opioid drugs take lives. They truly are not worth the risk. Hopefully, lawmakers begin to realize that before it’s too late.