In the near future, I plan on reintroducing legislation that would ban the implementation of any safe injection sites – also known as safe consumption spaces or overdose prevention centers – throughout the Commonwealth. In the 2023-24 session, this legislation was previously SB 165 and passed the Senate with a bipartisan vote. Members who cosponsored this legislation last session included Senators Fontana, Brewster, Pennycuick, Laughlin, and Stefano.

The opioid and overdose epidemic has taken the lives of too many Pennsylvanians. A total of 5,169 Pennsylvanians died of an overdose in 2022 according to the CDC. This is completely unacceptable and we are committed to finding the appropriate strategy, including adequately funding treatment and community-based recovery support services, to help curb this epidemic and dramatically decrease the amount of overdose deaths occurring in the Commonwealth. Safe injection sites are counter-productive to this ultimate goal.
 
Safe injection sites give refuge to those with opioid use and other substance use disorders and allow them to continue using these deadly substances while endangering the surrounding community. These sites set a standard that a person’s addiction is an inevitable fact and success is merely sustaining life without returning a person’s livelihood. There are better ways. We can set a higher standard that saves people from overdoses while increasing social functioning and retention in treatment. Harm reduction can be achieved through alternative measures that offer a road to recovery such as medication-assisted treatment. While we implement holistically effective methods and search for further solutions to help those struggling with addiction, it would be a disservice to go backwards and fail to give these individuals a pathway to improved health and wellness.

This legislation would prohibit safe injection sites in Pennsylvania and allow us to continue our support of those with opioid and other substance use disorders while still ensuring that we are not creating an environment that could harm these individuals or our hard-working Pennsylvanian communities such as those in the district I serve.

Please join us in co-sponsoring this important legislation and help us move forward in addressing the opioid and overdose epidemic.