Newsom vetoes bill to set up drug overdose prevention programs in some California cities

[ripcord]

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed a controversial bill that would have allowed supervised injection site pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, in efforts to prevent drug overdose deaths and connect people to treatment for addiction.

The number of safe injection sites that would have been authorized by the bill could have induced a “world of unintended consequences,” Newsom wrote in his veto message.

“It is possible that these sites would help improve the safety and health of our urban areas, but if done without a strong plan, they could work against this purpose,” Newsom said. “These unintended consequences in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland cannot be taken lightly. Worsening drug consumption challenges in these areas is not a risk we can take.”

Newsom reiterated that he was committed to harm-reduction strategies, but said pilot programs need to be well planned and include strong local leadership. He said he would instruct California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly to convene city and county officials to “discuss minimum standards and best practices” that could then be recommended to the Legislature.

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-22/newsom-vetoes-bill-california-overdose-prevention-programs

We need to treat drug abuse, not normalize it. There is no way to put these sites in an area without bringing problems into that area.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Why can't we 'normalize' it with opioids?

Other than addiction and overdose, they're actually pretty harmless to the body, no known organ toxicities, no cancer, no brain damage, etc. They are surprisingly innocuous, actually, other than the addictive properties.

And people tend to overdose because they're either not educated on the drugs, or more often, they don't know the strength/makeup of what they're getting on the streets (think fentanyl made to look like heroin or oxy or vicodin pills).

Then there's all the problems with needle use and needle sharing. But a lot of people are only shooting heroin cause it's all they can afford. Give them access to oxymorphone or hydromorphone oral, for free or close to it ... MANY will switch to this safer alternative pretty readily.

Obviously you don't want to create more addicts, but I think there's a case to be made to adopt the UK's approach for existing addicts (and you can blood test to confirm someone is).

Let people come into a supervised place where they can do opioids that are of known quantity and quality, in an amount commensurate with their level of addiction, and no more. Maybe even insist they take slightly less each time, and always be trying to talk them into going to treatment and/or switching to buprenorphine, which is still an addictive opioid, but doesn't get you high, just keeps you out of withdrawals. It's kind of drug you can totally function normally on, hold down a job, etc (trust me, I know). It also blocks 'real' dope from getting you high pretty dang well.

I'm not 100% sold on this idea, but I don't think it's really a bad one, think it's worthy of discussion as a valid harm-reduction strategy.

[Elessar Zappa]

2. Suboxone really works.

I’ve been on it now 6 years and other than one relapse that I had within 3 months of getting treatment, I’ve managed to stay clean. Like you said, there’s no high and it really takes away cravings away quite well. I’ll probably be on it for the rest of my life (I don’t trust myself to stay clean without it).

[Hugh_Lebowski]

4. Agreed!

I've gotten off of bupe twice over the years. First time I stepped off at 2mg/day and that was friggin rough (although also pretty transformative). Didn't sleep for 3 nights ... then went to my sub doc for comfort meds ... clonidine, gabapentin, ambien. Once I had those I was pretty set. Stayed clean for years after, then messed up (though nowhere NEAR as badly as the first time).

The next time I weaned down to like .125mg/day, and although that took about 1.5 years to get down that low (at worst I was 4mg/day), both the weaning down and the stepping off were an absolute cakewalk. Barely felt it at all, weaning or finally quitting. I worked and had a normal life the whole time.

There are a lot of barriers to suboxone treatment though, way more than there should be. Cost being the biggest, but also limited 'spots' in doctor's schedules, special licenses to prescribe it, etc. It should be easier and cheaper to get treated with buprenorphine than it is, IMHO.

[Johnny2X2X]

5. Agree

Drug addiction is not a moral or a criminal issue, we need to stop treating it like one. There are ways to make it safe and legal while providing treatment options to users that will result in less users, not more.

The ODs we see in this country are a product of criminalization. Each one is an avoidable tragedy. And we talk of them to score political points, but the fact remains that there are many Americans who feel relief reading about it, like addicts have no worth and society is better off without them. Addicts have loved ones, they have co workers, they have children, they are missed when they OD and die. I very much miss a dear friend who ODed and passed about 5 years ago, his 3 children miss him, his wife misses him, the successful business he ran went out of business without him, his employees miss him. Society misses these people.

What we are doing now isn't working. Safe, legal, and cheap would transform our nation. Crime and homelessness would plummet with cheap, safe, and legal drugs. Gangs would lose the main source of income that gives them power. We're already seeing legal weed have positive effects in the states that have implemented it, that's just the first step.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

6. You sound exactly like me on this topic ;) (nt)

[Elessar Zappa]

9. Excellent post!

Thank you for your insights.

[Bluesaph]

3. Newsome strikes again!

He is such a smart governor. He knows there is a problem. Knows we need a solution. But isn’t gonna just approve something just to say he did! Good for him!

[chowder66]

8. +1

[CentralMass]

7. I'm not big fan of the concept the illegal drug trade will always be around.

I worked with two guys in a hi-tech industry who became heroin addicts. Two guy that you would never suspect. After years of battling it, in and out of rehab, one died of an overdose at his brothers house who he had moved in with and the other died of a blood cancer that was most likely caused by the years of drug use. Opiods are insidious. From what I understand one time heroin use is enough to hook you. Opioids should remain illegal.

[Johnny2X2X]

10. Did it being illegal save your coworkers?

No, it didn't save him, in fact it's what caused their deaths. Keeping it illegal means the products people use are inconsistent in potency and not safe. Keeping it illegal meant your coworker had less options to get treatment, and had to go to great lengths to hide his addiction. Illegal opioids ensure there are tainted products out there that might cause something like blood cancer. Both of your coworkers would probably be alive with a safe, legal, and regulated opioid trade. Furthermore, they both would have had countless more opportunities for treatment if they were buying their product from a place that offers treatment rather than from some street dealer.

We don't have to guess what legalizing and regulating opioids means. It's done in several other countries. They have a fraction of the overdose deaths, they see a fraction of transmittable diseases due to sharing needles, they see a fraction of the crime associated with the opioid trade. And they see less people using opioids in the long run because they focused on providing users with more treatment options and chances. I mean, you're talking about a 90% reduction in HIV caused by injection drug use in Portugal since they legalized heroin, we're not talking about marginally better outcomes, we're talking about dramatically better outcomes.

Opioid addiction is awful, what we are doing is not preventing it, we have some evidence that legalization will not only make addiction less common, it will dramatically reduce deaths, crime, and other health problems associated with it.