Myth-Busting Safe Injection Sites: Lessons from New York’s Bold Trial

In November 2021, the nonprofit OnPoint opened the nation's first overdose prevention center, backed by New York City. The center aimed to provide assistance to those who wanted to use drugs under the supervision of a medical professional.

Two years after the clinics' opening, Jama, a very well-respected medical journal, analyzed whether these safe injection sites brought more drug use or more crime to the neighborhoods. The findings suggest that concerns about crime and disorder remain substantial barriers to the expansion of overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in US cities. The JAMA report claims that the data from New York City does not support these concerns, with no significant increases in crimes reported by the police or calls for emergency service in New York City neighborhoods where two OPCs were located.

However, the report also references the city's commitment to ensuring “clients” could use the center without arrest or prosecution. This led to a statistically significant decline in arrests around the facilities. In other words, there’s a decrease in drug-related crime in the area because police aren’t arresting people.

Some argue that these centers are not addressing the problem and are instead encouraging and enabling bad, evil, soul-destroying, body-destroying behavior. This sinful and corrupting behavior will continue to spread, with the potential to mislead and corrupt good character. John Adams wrote in Thoughts on Government: “If there is a form of government then, whose principle and foundation is virtue, will not every sober man acknowledge it better calculated to promote the general happiness than any other form?” Government is responsible to encourage virtue, not licentiousness.

As a result, some are recommending against allowing and encouraging such behavior in cities like Philadelphia, Miami, and Chicago.  The Bible advises not to be misled by bad company, urging you to come back to your senses (1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV).