Getting creative in opioid battle

Supervised injection sites endorsed by medical groups, activists

BOSTON — The idea may seem jarring at first: Creating safe spaces where drug users can shoot up under the watchful eye of staff trained in helping counter the effect of potentially fatal overdoses — all with the approval of public health officials.

But the terrible toll taken by the state’s opioid battle in recent years have prompted some lawmakers, activists and medical groups to endorse the idea of “supervised injection sites” as another way to reduce overdose deaths.

Among those skeptical is Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, who said he doesn’t see the sites as gateways to treatment.

At a public hearing Tuesday about a bill he filed to help ease the state’s opioid abuse crisis, Baker was asked about the possibility of the sites — something not included in his legislation.

“As far as the data I’ve seen is concerned, it has not demonstrated any legitimate success in creating a pathway to treatment,” Baker said. “The harm reduction argument I think is a much better one, but I’m kind of a hard sell on that one.”

The Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Hospital Association back the idea.

In a report released last year, the medical society found supervised injection sites can reduce overdose mortality and increase access to drug treatment. Much of the research is based on two sites in Canada and Australia.

The report called for the creation of a pilot supervised injection facility program in Massachusetts. The group said the state should seek an exemption from federal drug laws to pursue the pilot program and consider partnering with other states.

The American Medical Association said sites in other countries have helped reduce overdose deaths and curb transmission rates of infectious disease while getting more people into treatment without increasing drug trafficking or crime.

Aubri E., a 32-year-old Boston resident who declined to give her full name because she was admitting to illegal activity, said she would use such a facility.

Aubri said she began using drugs when she was 17. She said she’s so concerned about overdosing that she calls or texts a friend before using and then texts every 2 minutes. If she stops texting, she has asked the friend to call 911 and leaves her home door open.

“I’ve lost a lot of very close friends due to overdosing, some of whom have died right in front of me,” she said. “Another benefit for me would be being in a safe space and not having to hide and being able to talk openly about substance abuse and not having to inject alone.”

There have been efforts to establish safe injection sites in a number of cities and states including New York, California and Vermont as well as Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Injection sites are already legal in a number of countries including Australia, Canada, France and Spain.

In Massachusetts, legislation has been filed that would let state health officials permit injection sites. The bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. William Brownsberger, has just over a dozen co-sponsors out of a 200-member Legislature.