Letter: Reducing overdose deaths should be a priority, but the Legislature keeps avoiding potential solutions
FILE - This photo provided by the U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah and introduced as evidence in a 2019 trial shows fentanyl-laced fake oxycodone pills collected during an investigation. In a resumption of a brutal trend, nearly 71,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2019 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a new record high that predates the COVID-19 crisis. The numbers were driven by fentanyl and similar synthetic opioids, which accounted for 36,500 overdose deaths. (U.S. Attorneys Office for Utah via AP)
By Harlee Smith | The Public Forum
campaign trail and one of the most controversial ones is one put forward by bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and it s this idea of endorsed, supervised injection sites. they do not provide drugs, but they do allow a safe space with medical personnel for addicts to come in and essentially get their fix. am i stating that properly? that s exactly right. thank you very much for coming back to the issue since it doesn t get as much attention in platforms like the debates. this is an idea that s been kicking around for a while and basically the fad diet of the drug policy arena. it s like all of us, you want the quick fix with issues like this, but opioids and drug addiction in general is a complex and multi-faceted issue. you re not going to normalize it by saying, hey, this is where you can do this safely and imply that there is a safe way of using drugs to address addiction. what is the correct way of looking at this is at the same time the trump administration