Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation applauded California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto a bill that would sanction safe drug injection sites in San Francisco, Oakland, and Los Angeles. Such sites, illegal under federal law, would only worsen the problem of rampant drug use and homelessness in those cities, and as Gov. Newsom correctly stated, “Worsening drug consumption challenges in these areas is not a risk we can take.”
“The reality is that these sites– four of which illegally exist in New York City and one in San Francisco—attract drug dealers seduced by the lucrative market. Illegal drug users in these cities have no consequences to injecting on the streets so the majority don’t frequent these SIS,” said Michele Steeb, senior fellow for TPPF. “Those who are homeless would have to leave all of their belongings unattended in order to visit a SIS… this is unthinkable to them.”
“The Centers for Disease Control classifies addiction as a disease. A disease requires treatment. Safe injection sites are equipped to resurrect the ‘overdosed’, but they don’t offer treatment nor the hope for a better life.”