Editor’s note: A correction has been made to this story. Councilwoman Fran Hollums made the comment about knowing someone in Vancouver and having a first-hand encounter with injection sites, not Councilwoman Marlla Mhoon. A consensus of the council requested the staff bring back an ordinance banning sites from the the city. The council also agreed that opiate addiction is a epidemic.
The King County Council has been considering the idea of supervised, hygienic drug injection sites for addicts.
The Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force, which was formed by King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Renton Mayor Denis Law and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus in March 2016, came up with a final report and recommendations for the supervised injection sites.
Safe or supervised injection sites have been operating in Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada since the early 2000s.
The task force recommended two injection sites be opened — one in Seattle and one within King County.
According to task force the sites would lower the incidents of HIV and hepatitis C infections, improperly discarded needles and increase the use of detox treatment services.
Covington City Manager Regan Bolli noted there is not enough research to suggest it will reduce overdoses.
King County is trying to figure out where to put a second injection site within south King County and according to Bolli, each city in the area has a right to refuse an injection site.
The Seattle City Council approved putting a safe-injection site in its city.
The Covington City Council discussed if a site should operate in the city at the Oct. 10 meeting.
According to Councilman Mark Lanza, he is concerned that a safe-injection site in Covington would bring in more non-community members than they might want, especially if they are in the area to use drugs.
There would also be a need for increased policing in the area of the potential injection site, said Police Chief Andrew McCurdy at the council meeting.
Councilman Joseph Cimaomo Jr. said they need to ask “Would this help you?”
He said he has a relative who recently overcame a heroin addiction and when he asked his relative if the safe-injection site would have helped them, the response was no.
“I want data that shows this will help people,” Cimaomo said. “Until we get that data, I support a ban.”
Councilwoman Fran McGregor Hollums said she knew someone who had a first-hand look at injection site in Vancouver, Canada and that person said, “‘it was just awful.’”
Mayor Pro Tem Sean Smith said “(We) need to go into this eyes wide open.”
Mhoon said, “This is a disease of addiction and a public epidemic.”
The council has not made any final decisions on having a safe injection site in the city, but a consensus of the council requested the staff bring back an ordinance banning sites from the the city. The council also agreed that opiate addiction is a epidemic.
