Four Democratic Pennsylvania Senators, including the chief author of a marijuana legalization bill, have asked a federal court in their state to reject any agreement that would allow a drug consumption facility to operate. They cite the same federal law which currently prohibits cannabis.
Sens. Sens.
The court filing was made one day after twenty community groups requested that the court grant their motion to intervene. They said that this was necessary because they believed that the federal government planned to cling to the case which originated under the Trump administration.
The Justice Department is yet to announce that it will abandon the lawsuit which prevented the non-profit Safehouse, from opening a safe consumption center in Philadelphia. The government’s opponents are under the impression that it is going to drop its opposition during ongoing settlement negotiations.
In a new filing, the senators stated that they “anticipated” that parties involved in this matter “would engage with local officials and state legislators in order to move ahead with any approved drug consumption site,” which could “avoid litigation related to violations of state law and mitigate constituent harm and anxiety about any proposed site.”
The senators make a compelling argument that it would be wrong for a court to rule in favor of Safehouse, and approve a site for safe consumption because this would violate the federal Controlled Substances Act.
They said that “Operating a site for drug consumption with the purpose of providing a place where visitors can inject themselves with controlled drugs violates the plain meaning of the CSA”.
Street has been a major sponsor of reform legislation which would conflict with CSA, given that cannabis is still illegal at the federal level.
Tartaglione, Williams and other legislators signed a letter addressed to the former governor. Tom Wolf (D), and legislative leaders of 2020 called for action in order to legalize marijuana in order to possibly mitigate the opioid epidemic.
Marijuana Moment contacted Street’s office to get a comment. However, a representative had not responded by the publication date.
Kellen Russoniello is a senior staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports safe consumption sites, harm reduction, and other measures. She told Marijuana Moment, “There’s a sort of double standard here” in regards to senators’ willingness not to take federal concerns into account when it comes cannabis, but to do so for overdose prevention.
He said, “We are disappointed by their stance.” Overdose Prevention Centers are going to save lives.
In their brief, the senators argued that setting up a site for safe consumption would be a violation of state law. They also said that any attempts to allow these facilities to operate must be done legislatively rather than by court.
The filing states that Tartaglione has submitted legislation which would “explicitly ban the operation of sites where drug paraphernalia is available and spaces are provided for anyone to inject, ingest or inhale controlled substances, or introduce them into their body in any other way.”
The brief states that “any attempt to circumvent legislative processes undermines the exclusive authority of the legislative branch.” The brief states that if Safehouse agrees to operate illegal drug consumption sites in violation of the law as a result of settlement discussions, it will be deemed to have carved out a legislative exception or amendment without legislative enactment.
The report concludes, “Based on the above reasons, we urge that the Court reject any settlement which would result in the operation of an illegal drug consumption site within the City of Philadelphia.”
While the non-profit Safehouse agreed to several extensions, it opposed one of the most recent requests for more time from the government. The federal district court granted the government’s numerous deadline extension requests. The non-profit Safehouse accepted several extensions but opposed the most recent request for more time from the government. The court then ordered DOJ reveal its position by January.
Before that, Safehouse and the Department instead agreed to transfer this case to mediation in front of a magistrate to settle the matter.
The status of mediation is still unclear. However, the senators and community groups feel that DOJ may be willing to drop the case in order to allow the safe consumption site. This would be consistent with the White House’s policy of harm reduction to reduce overdoses and promote treatment.
Safehouse described its previous discussions with the Justice Department in a positive light, but the organization is frustrated by the delays that the government has imposed on the legal proceedings.
Last year, DOJ stated that it was evaluating “supervised consumption sites, including discussions with State and Local Regulators about appropriate guardrails, as part an overall approach to public safety and harm reduction.”
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an application in October 2021 on the legality for the establishment of the Safehouse facilities.
Researchers from the U.S. Congress highlighted “uncertainty”, referring to the position of the federal government regarding safe drug consumption sites. They also suggested that legislators could resolve the issue temporarily by proposing an amendment similar to the one which allowed the implementation of medical marijuana laws without Justice Department interference.
New York City, which opened its first locally sanctioned harm-reduction centers in the U.S. late in 2021, has already seen positive results, with officials reporting that they have saved lives.
The Congressional Research Service pointed out this discrepancy. It stated that “while DOJ actively opposed operation of supervised-consumption sites under the Trump Administration,” the Biden Administration had not invoked the [Controlled Substances Act] to date.
The report was released just days after Nora Volkow , Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse , tacitly supported the idea that safe consumption sites should be authorized. She argued that evidence had effectively shown that these facilities could prevent overdose death.
Volkow refused to say specifically what she would have done if the Trump-era suit was dropped. However, she did state that research on safe consumption sites “has shown that they’ve saved a significant (percentage) of patients from overdosing.”
The comments are one of the strongest in support of Safehouse, and this is especially notable in light of the government’s position on the lawsuit which has so far prevented Safehouse from offering the service.
Rahul Gupta is the White House Drug Czar. He has stated that the Biden Administration is examining broader drug policy harm-reduction proposals. This includes the authorization of supervised use sites. In fact, he even suggested possible decriminalization.
The American Medical Association published a study in July that found the newly opened facilities in New York City have reduced overdose risks and diverted people from using in public. They also provided other ancillary services to those who currently use illicit substances.
In this session, Colorado, New Mexico, and New York lawmakers have approved bills that authorize safe consumption sites , where people can use current illicit drugs under medical supervision and receive resources for substance abuse treatment.
In 2021, Rhode Island became first in the U.S. state to legalize the safe drug consumption sites pilot program.
Last year, the Governor of Vermont vetoed two bills that were meant to create a group to develop a plan for opening safe consumption centers . The governor of California also vetoed last year a bill to allow a pilot program to be run for harm reduction centres.
Russoniello, of the DPA, said, “It was very disappointing that those we thought were allies, in the end, weren’t present and weren’t supporting.” It was very disappointing, and it speaks to the bigger challenge of ensuring that there is community-wide support, addressing community concerns, as well as the power of fear that opponents can generate.
Below, you can read the Senators’ submission on the Safe Consumption Site Case:
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Image by Dima Solomin.
The post Pennsylvania senators who support marijuana legalization ask federal court to reject safe drug consumption sites appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
