Judge rules planned supervised injection site does not violate federal drug laws
The decision means that the country's first supervised injection site can go forward
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
A judge has ruled that a Philadelphia nonprofit group's plan to open the first supervised injection site in the U.S. where people can use illegal opioids under medical supervision does not violate federal drug laws, delivering a major setback to Justice Department lawyers who launched a legal challenge to block the facility. U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh ruled that Safehouse's plan to allow people to bring in their own drugs and use them in a medical facility to help combat fatal overdoses does not violate the Controlled Substances Act. "The ultimate goal of Safehouse's proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it," McHugh wrote in his opinion. (See also: Huge court win for Philly safe consumption site — But fight isn’t over)
