The latest on safe injection sites for Philadelphia

Safe Injection Sites in Philadelphia, I don’t like the concept. Who in their right mind would want a safe injection facility in their neighborhood? Let’s just start there.

I keep thinking about the locations in Philadelphia where people who are addicted to Opioids can go and get methadone or suboxone to calm down their body’s craving for the harder drugs. Out in front of those locations any day of the week you can witness addicts standing, or rather, leaning, and all bent over after they’ve gotten their “fix” for the day. They look a hot mess, high as a kite, and just appear to not have the ability to control their own body functions. It’s as if you’ve driven into zombie town or something when you drive past 49th and Parkside, for example, one location where there’s a facility for drug addicts to go and get a shot of Methadone.

The concept of these “safe injection sites, the way I understand it and the way I’ve heard so many people discuss it on radio programs, in the newspapers, and in TV reports, would be like a scene from Kensington. After folks go into a would-be-safe injection site and get their hits, what do they do? They would come outside, all wired up, barely able to walk, and again, looking like a zombie from a horror flick.

Philadelphia 7th District City Councilwoman Quetcy Lozado, during a recent appearance on Wake Up With WURD, commented about concerns from residents in the Kensington area of her district. “There’s a list of things that have been told to the people who live here. Those things have not been done, so why should the people of this community believe anyone now? We have to take every measure necessary, possible, and available in the community to start a process of protecting themselves and their quality of life. That’s what I’m committed to do.”