Appeals Court overturns ruling that legalized SCS; Safehouse fights on
The evidence in other countries with legal SCS speak for themselves: Safe consumption sites save lives
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
A three-judge panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals voted to overturn a Philadelphia District Court’s prior ruling that effectively legalized safe consumption sites (SCS). In a 2-1 decision, the Appeals Court adopted a broad interpretation of 21 USC S856—the section of federal code known as the “crack house statute” that was added to the Controlled Substances Act in 1986, making it a felony to “knowingly open, lease, rent, use, or maintain any place for the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance.” The nonprofit group Safehouse maintained that the law does not apply to SCS, since the “purpose” of such a facility is not to facilitate drug use, but to to save lives. (See also: Impact of an unsanctioned safe consumption site on criminal activity)
