A bill that would create a statewide overdose prevention center pilot program in New York narrowly passed out of a Senate committee this week, though lawmakers on both sides of the issue said they expect further debate on the proposal if it makes it to the chamber floor.<\/p>\n
The Senate Health Committee voted 7\u20136 on Tuesday to advance the latest version of the bill, S.339, from Sen. Gustavo Rivera (D). It next proceeds to the Senate Finance Committee.<\/p>\n
The bill is one \u201cthat I feel very, very, very committed to,\u201d Rivera, who also chairs the Health Committee, said at the beginning of the hearing, \u201cand I\u2019m hoping we can get it passed.\u201d<\/p>\n
New York City became the first U.S. jurisdiction to host locally sanctioned harm reduction centers<\/a> in November 2021, and early results have been positive.<\/p>\n Rivera pointed to the two sites before the vote, saying they \u201chave been saving lives every single day that they\u2019ve been operating.\u201d In the over 30 years that supervised consumption sites have operated globally, he continued, \u201cnot a single person who has overdosed in them has ever died.\u201d<\/p>\n He also acknowledged that some members of the committee opposed the plan. \u201cWe can certainly have a long conversation here,\u201d he said, \u201cor we can have a long conversation on the floor, where I hope to be able to get it at some point soon.\u201d<\/p>\n The committee\u2019s ranking Republican member, Sen. Patrick Gallivan, agreed that \u201cthe floor would be the most appropriate place to have a longer discussion,\u201d adding that \u201cthere are many people who oppose the approach to the expansion or establishment of these centers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I hope that we do get to have a conversation on the floor, sir,\u201d Rivera replied.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not the first time the New York Senate panel has considered the legislation. It passed an earlier version a year ago<\/a>, also on a 7\u20136 vote. The state\u2019s Assembly passed a similar bill that same month<\/a>.<\/p>\n If the measure becomes law, New York would join\u00a0Rhode Island<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Minnesota<\/a> in authorizing the facilities. Vermont lawmakers also recently passed a bill to establish and fund a pilot program in Burlington<\/a>, though the state\u2019s governor has signaled he intends to veto it<\/a>.<\/p>\n The current version of New York\u2019s S.399<\/a> would establish a five-year \u201cSafer Consumption Services Pilot Program\u201d under the state\u2019s Department of Health (DOH) that would authorize 10 overdose prevention centers across the state. The department would approve or deny applications from organizations to run the centers following consultation with municipal or community leaders.<\/p>\n Entities operating the centers would need to have a community advisory board that would develop policies for soliciting community engagement and feedback in order to address any local concerns.<\/p>\n Sites would be co-located at existing DOH-authorized syringe services facilities and would need to comply with other requirements as determined by health officials.<\/p>\n The latest changes, sponsor Rivera explained at this week\u2019s hearing, deal with tracking and community reporting around the would-be sites.<\/p>\n The bill page on the legislature\u2019s website says the fiscal implications of the proposal are yet to be determined.<\/p>\n As for the safer consumption facilities operating in New York City, a study by the American Medical Association (AMA) last July found that the sites had decreased the risk of overdose<\/a>, steered people away from using drugs in public and provided other ancillary health services to people who use illicit substances. Separate research published by AMA late last year found that the centers have not led to increased crime despite a significant decrease in arrests<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the federal government has\u00a0fought an effort to open an overdose prevention center in Philadelphia<\/a>, with the Biden administration arguing that the facilities violate federal law. Last month, the court in that case\u00a0granted the Justice Department\u2019s motion to dismiss a challenge from organizers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court\u00a0rejected a request to that hear that case<\/a>\u00a0in October 2021.<\/p>\n DOJ first blocked the Philadelphia nonprofit from opening the overdose prevention center under the Trump administration. Supporters hoped the department would cede the issue under President Joe Biden, who has promoted harm reduction policies as an alternative to criminalization, but the parties could not reach an agreement to allow the facility to open despite months of \u201cgood faith\u201d negotiations.<\/p>\n Congressional researchers have highlighted\u00a0the \u201cuncertainty\u201d of the federal government\u2019s position<\/a> on the facilities, pointing out last November that lawmakers could temporarily resolve the issue by advancing an amendment modeled after the one that has allowed medical marijuana laws to be implemented without Justice Department interference.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow has\u00a0tacitly endorsed the idea of authorizing safe consumption sites<\/a>, arguing that evidence has effectively demonstrated that the facilities can prevent overdose deaths.<\/p>\n Volkow declined to say specifically what she believes should happen with the ongoing lawsuit, but she said safe consumption sites that have been the subject of research \u201chave shown that it has saved a significant [percentage of] patients from overdosing.\u201d<\/p>\n Rahul Gupta, the White House drug czar, has said the Biden administration is\u00a0reviewing broader drug policy harm reduction proposals<\/a>, including the authorization of supervised consumption sites, and he went so far as to suggest possible decriminalization.<\/p>\n The National Institutes of Health (NIH)\u00a0put out a pair of requests for applications<\/a>\u00a0in December 2021 to investigate how safe consumption sites and other harm reduction policies could help address the drug crisis.<\/p>\n Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), has said it\u2019s critical to explore \u201cany and every option\u201d to reduce overdose deaths, which\u00a0could include allowing safe consumption sites<\/a>\u00a0for illegal substances if the evidence supports their efficacy.<\/p>\n Cory Booker Visits Marijuana Manufacturer In California Amid Renewed Push For Federal Legalization Bill<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post New York Senators Approve Safe Drug Consumption Site Pilot Program Bill<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bill that would create a statewide overdose prevention center pilot program in New York narrowly passed out of a Senate committee this week, though lawmakers on both sides of the issue said they expect further debate on the proposal if it makes it to the chamber floor. The SenateContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75190"}],"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\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75190"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75190\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75191,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75190\/revisions\/75191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: New York Senators Approve Safe Drug Consumption Site Pilot Program Bill<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"