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Safe Injection Facilities: Could It and Should It Happen in Massachusetts?

J. Junker

Opioid addiction is a nationwide public health crisis: the Center for Disease Control estimates sixty-four thousand people in the U.S. died from drug overdose in 2016. Tens of thousands more suffer from opioid addiction. We’ve been tackling opioid addiction on many fronts, but there’s one approach nine other countries are using that the United States hasn’t adopted: Supervised or Safe Injection Facilities. After looking into Safe Injection Facilities in Canada and Australia, the Massachusetts Medical Society released a report that found Supervised Injection Sites can reduce overdose mortality and increase access to drug treatment. On The Point, we discuss what we can learn from the operation of Safe Injection Facilities in other countries, and what it would take to open them in the United States and even in Massachusetts. The Chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society, Dr. Dennis Dimitri joins us to explain why the Society is supportive of establishing a Safe Injection Facility pilot program in Massachusetts. Also joining host Mindy Todd for the discussion are Carl Sciortino, Executive Director AIDS Action Committee, Ray Tamasi, President of Gosnold on Cape Cod, and Dylan Fernandes, Massachussets State Representative.

 

 

 

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Mindy Todd is the host and producer of <i>The Point</i> on WCAI which examines critical issues for Cape Cod and the Islands. She brings more than 40 years of experience in radio and television to WCAI.