Commission to recommend safe injection sites for Massachusetts

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A state commission will recommend “one or more” pilot sites for safe injection facilities in Massachusetts, but they may get pushback from the federal justice department.

When Jim Stewart helped launch Cambridge’s safe first needle exchange program at the First Church Shelter, it was considered revolutionary.

“Harm reduction has been something the shelter has been committed to since we opened 31 years ago,” said Stewart.

Now he’s part of a coalition of medical professionals, social workers, and substance users who are pushing for what they call the next step in the war on opioids: safe injection sites.

Related: Supervised injection sites remove some risk for opioid drug users

“We have to get away from, let go of all these bigoted, primitive ideas about who people with substance use disorder are,” said Stewart.

Today, multiple members, including state representative Jeffrey Roy talked about how the commission’s research has completely changed their opinion of safe injection sites and how effective they can be as a tool in the overall battle against opioid addiction.

The Harm Reduction Commission was formed last August as part of legislation to fight the opioid epidemic.

State senator Cindy Freidman, from Arlington, now says their challenge is getting other members of the legislature to listen.

"It's uncomfortable for people,” said Friedman, “Certainly it's uncomfortable for me, the thought of it is not something that sits easy. But, the notion that so many people are dying and so many people are ill, we just need to do anything to stop people from dying and allow them to live long enough to decide to get into treatment."

Last year, Boston 25 News traveled to Montreal, Canada, to tour a supervised injection facility located off the busy St. Catherine Street.  We were the first television crew allowed to film inside.  The health professionals at Cactus Montreal oversee users, assist in the case of an overdose, and offer assistance if they're interested in recovery.  So far, no one has died of an overdose inside a Canadian safe injection site.

“The most important thing is nobody dies. We have too many people dying. And we have to think creatively about how we are going to address this issue,” said mayor Mark McGovern of Cambridge.

McGovern said our report gave him the idea to visit Montreal’s facilities.  He says it’s up to the City of Cambridge to decide if safe injection sites are right for their community.

“I would like to see a site located in Cambridge," said McGovern, “I think it’s a social justice issue, I think it’s a health issue and it’s the right thing to do.”

Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston sits on the Harm Reduction Commission with McGovern.  Walsh says his trip last month to some of the injection sites in Canada changed his views, noting how the neighborhoods around the sites also saw a reduction in used needles in the streets.

“At the end of the day, they save lives, and keeping people alive long enough to hopefully get that person into recovery or onto a pathway to not using drugs is really important,” said Walsh at last week’s commission meeting.

Aubri Esters has lost several friends to substance use disorder - she herself began using drugs as a teenager.

A member of the harm reduction commission, she appreciates mayor Walsh's support but says it doesn't go far enough.

“The people I know, the people I love, our lives matter and we deserve to be respected and cared for and we deserve love and compassion like anyone else,” Esters said.

But as city and state officials work on a plan to open safe injection sites...they face their most significant hurdle yet.

“Under federal law it seems pretty clear to me that these sites would be illegal to operate,” says Andrew Lelling, United States Attorney for Massachusetts.

He's prepared to use any means necessary to shut down safe injection sites - whether that means a lawsuit or handcuffs.  He says that opioid-related deaths have started to decline across New England without safe injection sites.

“In my view, these sites normalize intravenous drug use. It’s not clear to me why these sites would ever lead to a significant reduction in opioid addiction” Lelling said.

Advocates for those with substance use disorder left the meeting Tuesday extremely happy with the commission’s recommendations. They know it’s still a long road ahead before a safe injection site would ever open its doors.

The commission will send its report to legislators in the next few days.

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