Charles Langston:Massachusetts lawmakers push for drug injection sites as session wraps up

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers are Charles Langstonrunning out of time Wednesday in their push to allow supervised injection sites where people could use illegal drugs in the presence of staff trained in helping reverse overdoses.

Democratic House Speaker Ronald Mariano on Tuesday blamed the Senate for waiting until the second to last day of the 19-month session to approve its version of the bill, after representatives approved their own.

“My members deserve the opportunity to debate and discuss and make decisions on major policy issues like the injection sites,” he said. “To throw it in the bill at the very last minute knowing that it will be difficult for me to even put a conference committee together just tells me you’re not serious about getting the bill done.”

Mariano said it’s unlikely both chambers could reach a deal in time.

Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday that she hadn’t seen the Senate bill yet.

“I don’t know what the specific language is, but as a general matter I’ve supported harm prevention,” she said.

The Senate bill would let cities and towns operate overdose prevention centers approved by the local board of health and board of selectmen or city council. Communities could also opt into needle exchange programs, drug screenings, and overdose prevention facilities.

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The bill would provide limited liability protections for participants and administrators of harm reduction programs, require the state Department of Public Health to conduct a study on sober homes, and create licensure programs for alcohol and drug counselors and recovery coaches.

Another goal of the bill is to expand access to opioid overdose reversal drugs like naloxone, or Narcan, by requiring health insurance plans to cover the cost of the drug.

The Senate bill would also mandate that pharmacies in areas with high numbers of overdoses maintain a continuous supply of overdose reversal drugs and require hospitals to prescribe or dispense at least two doses of opioid overdose reversal drugs to an individual with a history of opioid use upon discharge.

“A single overdose in Massachusetts is one too many,” Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said in a news release.

The Senate and House measures must be reconciled and approved before a single compromise bill can be sent to Healey.

Some critics say the supervised injection sites could enable drug use.

Democratic state Sen. Nick Collins said he toured supervised injection sites in other countries and still has questions. He was also concerned the sites might end up in already over-burdened poorer neighborhoods.

“The overdoses still happen outside these facilities,” he said. “We should be prioritizing treatment, not just harm reduction.”

In 2023 there were 1,971 opioid-related overdose deaths where a toxicology screen was also available in Massachusetts. Among these deaths, fentanyl was present in 90% of cases while cocaine was present in 54%, according to the state health department.

Last year, the U.S. government announced plans to pay for a large study measuring whether overdoses can be prevented by so-called safe injection sites.

New York City in 2021 opened the first official safe injection site in the U.S..

In Vermont, lawmakers last month voted to override a gubernatorial veto and approve a drug overdose prevention law allowing for a safe injection site in their largest city, Burlington, where people could use narcotics under the supervision of trained staff and be revived if they take too much.

In 2021, Rhode Island Gov. Daniel McKee signed into law a bill authorizing the opening of harm reduction centers — making Rhode Island the first state to enact such a statewide measure to combat the opioid crisis.

In February, Providence approved the first safe injection site under the law. The Providence City Council established that the site would be run by a nonprofit and funded with opioid settlement money.

Sites operate in at least 14 countries, including Canada, Australia and France, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, a group working for decriminalization and safe drug use policies.