Would safe injection sites help curb Philadelphia's overdose crisis?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The death toll is staggering. More than 1,400 people died of a drug overdose in Philadelphia in 2022.
For perspective, 516 died from gun violence.
In September, Philadelphia City Council voted to ban what are known as safe injection sites, a major blow for advocates who say these sites could help prevent deaths in the region.
On Thursday night, CBS Philadelphia talked with those for and against the sites, including someone experiencing addiction firsthand.
"I knew from back home that if you wanted to get drugs, and you want to get them cheap, Kensington," said Steve, who asked if we didn't share his last name.
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Three times a week, Steve takes a train from Lancaster to Philly to buy drugs.
"I started off with heroin, but now, it's whatever it is, xylazine, the tranquilizer," Steve said.
The 46-year-old is one of thousands experiencing drug addiction in the Philadelphia region.
"I hate living like this, and it's so hard for me to build up the courage or the strength to ask for help," Steve said. "To go to a place and to go through the sickness. This is no way to live, this is a terrible way to live."
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"People do not want to be out here," said Destinie Campanella, who's the director of the Harm Reduction Program at Unity Recovery, a community-based organization in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
"I've watched it get progressively worse and our drug supply get more potent and volatile and even more people die, each and every year," she added.
Campanella has been pushing for safe consumption sites in the city for eight years. She says in addition to saving lives, it keeps people from using drugs on the streets and saves money on ambulance runs and ER visits.
"People have access to wound care, case management services, clean tools -- like syringes," Campanella said. "It comes to treating people with dignity and respect and just humanizing that person, so they can come in, have a safe space, even talk with a person. If they do use, and they do experience an overdose, they will be brought back with naloxone."
In 2020, the nonprofit Safehouse tried unsuccessfully to open a safe injection site in South Philly. The organization is now caught up in a civil suit over the legality of the sites.
Councilman Mark Squilla represents Philadelphia's first district, which includes Kensington.
In September, city council passed legislation to ban supervised injection sites in certain neighborhoods and recommended a city-wide ban be put in place.
"I think the long-term answer is just not a safe injection site," Squilla said. "People say 'You don't have a plan.' The goal is, how do we continue to treat the addiction and the problem? We spent over $70 million in Kensington over five years. That's a lot of money, and it's worse because you're not treating the problem, we're cleaning up around the problem."
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There are currently supervised injection sites in Canada, Europe and Australia.
New York City opened a safe injection site in 2021. Rhode Island is opening a site next year.
And for the first time, the U.S. government is funding a four-year study on the sites' effects on overdoses.
"There's not enough help out there," Campanella said.
Kartalija: "Why does this mean so much to you?"
Campanella: "It means so much to me because I am tired of my loved ones dying. Include the individuals who are boots on the ground, include other harm reduction advocates, and most importantly, include people who use drugs."
In Pennsylvania, deaths are trending at 436 a month. That's 14 overdoses a day in the commonwealth.
Local recovery organizations and city leaders agree that there needs to be more education and conversation about how to combat what's being called the worst drug epidemic in our country's history.
People like Steve said they need support.
Kartalija: "So if you knew there was a site where there were nurses there and clean needles, you would feel more comfortable going there?"
Steve: "Oh, 100%. 100%. What's the alternative? To use in front of storefronts. To have something like that I think would be beneficial for the community. To have something where we can kind of go and leave the rest of the community alone."
Democratic mayoral candidate Cherelle Parker is opposed to safe injection sites, and so is Republican candidate David Oh.
The bill now goes to Mayor Jim Kenney's desk for final approval.
Kenney has previously voiced support for medically supervised sites.
