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The Rhode Island legislature on Thursday sent a bill to the governor\u2019s desk that would establish a safe consumption site pilot program where people could test and use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment. If signed into law, the state would be the first in the country to legalize the facilities.<\/p>\n
The harm reduction legislation was approved by the House of Representatives on Tuesday<\/a>, when lawmakers also accepted a Senate companion version. On Thursday, the Senate, which had passed an earlier version of the bill<\/a> in February, approved changes and gave final approval\u2014sending the proposal to Gov. Dan McKee (D).<\/p>\n If the governor approves the measure, individual municipalities would still need to authorize the facilities to operate in their jurisdictions during the two-year pilot program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe opioid epidemic has become a tremendous public health crisis, with overdoses of prescription and non-prescription opioids claiming a record number of lives,\u201d Rep. John Edwards (D), sponsor of the House bill<\/a>, said in a press release. \u201cNot only do harm reduction centers severely mitigate the chance of overdose, they are a gateway to treatment and rehabilitation of people with substance abuse disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese locations will be under the supervision of trained medical staff who can direct addicts toward substance use disorder treatment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a way to tackle this epidemic while saving lives in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n The bill, which is partly informed by recommendations from an overdose task force convened under former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D), would also create an advisory committee. That panel would be required to advise the state Department of Health on how to \u201cmaximize\u201d the benefits of the centers.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for McKee told<\/a> WJAR-TV that he will review the proposal but did not say whether he would sign or not.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are truly going to rein in the drug overdose epidemic, we must recognize drug addiction as the health problem it is, rather than as merely a crime,\u201d Senate Health and Human Services Chairman Joshua Miller, who sponsored his chamber\u2019s version of the bill<\/a>, (D) said<\/a>. \u201cPeople who are addicted need help and protection from the most dangerous possibilities of addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cHaving a place where someone can save them from an overdose and where there are people offering them the resources they need for treatment is a much better alternative to people dying alone in their homes or their cars,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially as overdose deaths have climbed during the pandemic and fentanyl-laced drugs continue to pose a lethal threat to unwitting users, we could prevent needless death and turn lives around with a program like this.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rhode Island Senate in 2019 passed a similar bill to create a harm reduction center pilot program<\/a>. And last year, a Massachusetts legislative committee approved a bill that would legalize safe injection sites<\/a>, but it did not become enacted.<\/p>\n A similar harm reduction bill<\/a> in California, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D), was approved in the state Senate in April<\/a> and is now pending in the Assembly. Former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) vetoed<\/a> legislation in 2018 that would\u2019ve established a safe injection site pilot program.<\/p>\n This year, a federal court blocked<\/a> a Philadelphia nonprofit from opening a harm reduction center but its backers are pursuing an appeal.<\/p>\n In 2018, a congressional subcommittee approved legislation to specifically prohibit Washington D.C. from using local tax dollars\u00a0to help open safe consumption facilities<\/a>. But that provision was not enacted and has not been reintroduced since.<\/p>\n A 2020 study found that people \u201cwho reported using supervised injection facilities on an at least weekly basis had a reduced risk of dying<\/a>\u00a0compared to those who reported less than weekly or no use of this health service.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile in Rhode Island, the House Finance Committee this week heard testimony on one of three proposals introduced this session to legalize marijuana for adult use<\/a>. Legislative leaders and the governor\u2019s office have indicated they\u2019d like to reconcile the differences between those measures and potentially return to vote on a compromise bill later this year.<\/p>\n The Senate\u00a0already passed a separate cannabis legalization measure<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n Members Of Congress Should Visit Marijuana Businesses Together To Reduce Partisanship, House Committee Witness Testifies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Jernej Furman<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Bill To Legalize Safe Consumption Sites For Drugs Heads To Rhode Island Governor\u2019s Desk<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Rhode Island legislature on Thursday sent a bill to the governor\u2019s desk that would establish a safe consumption site pilot program where people could test and use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment. If signed into law, the state would be the first in the country toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":48637,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48638,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48636\/revisions\/48638"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Bill To Legalize Safe Consumption Sites For Drugs Heads To Rhode Island Governor\u2019s Desk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"