Daily Herald opinion: Proposal on licensed drug sites deserves study, but with knowledge of risks

Where is the line between preventing risky behavior and encouraging it?

That's the natural question arising from a proposal to allow state-licensed drug injection sites. The idea is to create safe places for using illegal opioids like heroin and fentanyl.

State Rep. LaShawn Ford, a Chicago Democrat who introduced the measure last year, touted it Thursday at a Springfield news conference as a way to save lives, because, he said, addicts will use one way or another. "The war on drugs, where we told people to just say no, failed us," he said.

Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx and Chelsea Laliberte Barnes, co-founder of the Arlington Heights-based Live 4 Lali heroin awareness group, support the idea.

"In New York City, where they're operating three sites, they're seeing unbelievable changes in their own community, including the reduction of crime, the reduction of open air markets, linking people to care, better relationships with police," Barnes told the Chicago Sun-Times. "There are so many benefits to these public health strategies that end up having an impact on how our criminal legal system ends up working and responding."

Barnes also would provide more outreach programs, job training and housing, which we unequivocally support, to help people overcome addiction.

There's no debate that overdoses are a health crisis. Last year, opioid-related deaths increased statewide by 2.3% - up from 2,944 in 2020 to 3,013 in 2021.

Police routinely carry naloxone, an overdose reversal drug that comes in nasal spray and injectable forms. Glueckert Funeral Home in Arlington Heights has offered training sessions on using naloxone, and in 2018, Edward-Elmhurst Health began requiring doctors who prescribe certain high doses of opioids also to prescribe a dose of their antidote.

None of those actions give tacit approval to the use of illegal drugs. But would licensed injection sites?

Not necessarily.

People who oppose sex education in schools often cite it as encouraging young people to have sex. A Texas company has gone to court because it wants to refuse to cover HIV preventive medication, arguing such a requirement would encourage homosexuality, in violation of the owners' religious beliefs.

In this space in the past three months, we have defended both sex education and HIV PreEP. It's far better to inform and equip people to make better health choices.

Still, in another arena, the legalization of recreational marijuana has led people who otherwise wouldn't have indulged to try edibles, extracts and pre-rolls from licensed dispensaries across the state. Licensing does provide an assurance that marijuana products aren't inherently dangerous, or at least no more dangerous than alcohol. But can the same be said for opioids?

Ford's legislation would require licensed injection sites to submit a report to the state with the number of program participants, the number of hypodermic needles and syringes distributed and the number of social and educational services provided. If the idea gets a serious look from the General Assembly, we'd recommend a set pilot period, with analysis required to guide the decision on whether the program should continue and, if so, how it potentially could be modified.

In addition to New York, cities in Canada and Europe have tried legal consumption spaces. The concept naturally raises concerns about the balance between protecting people who get caught up in dangerous behaviors and making it easier for others to take the risk, but the experiences elsewhere, and the failures of whatever we're doing now, suggest licensed injection sites at least are worth exploring.