Pubdate: Mon, 21 Aug 2017 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2017 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909 Website: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408 TOP: Connelly: LAWSUIT SEEKS TO BLOCK KING COUNTY VOTE ON SAFE INJECTION SITES - SEATTLEPI.COM http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/xarticle/seattlepi10021.htm US: Connelly: Lawsuit seeks to block King County vote on safe injection sites - seattlepi.com Found: Tue Aug 22 14:21:02 2017 PDT Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2017 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Website: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/408 Author: Joel Connelly CONNELLY: LAWSUIT SEEKS TO BLOCK KING COUNTY VOTE ON SAFE INJECTION A lawsuit was filed Monday, challenging and seeking to block a public vote on Initiative 27, which seeks to outlaw the opening of supervised consumption spaces, health facilities where people use drugs in a safe environment with access to treatment. The lawsuit, by a new organization called Protect Public Health, argues that public health policy is not subject to and up or down vote by citizen initiative. If successful, "I-27 would set a dangerous precedent for public health: Supervised consumption spaces are an essential tool in fighting the opiate epidemic," said Dr. Bob Woods, director of the HIV/AIDS program at Public Health-Seattle & King County from 1986 to 2010. "If I-27 succeeds, other public health policies could be at risk, including vaccination requirements, needle exchange programs, or even efforts to combat sexually transmitted diseases." Bill Bryant, the 2016 Republican nominee for Governor, watched the King County Council grapple with the issue on Monday, and offered a far different opinion. He sought to testify in favor of a public vote in November, but the Council refused to take testimony. If he had been able to speak, said Bryant, "I would have cautioned the Council that far too many people in King County believe the county's elections and politics are rigged against them, that it doesn't matter what voters do, politicians will do what they want." Almost 70,000 people signed petitions calling for a vote on supervised consumption sites, or safe injection sites as they are known in Canada. Vancouver began North America's first supervised injection site about 15 years ago.. City, provincial and law enforcement officials rose in defense of the site when the government of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to have it shut down. Ex-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in British Columbia on the lecture circuit, slammed the injection site. A unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada kept the injection site open. The site "has been proven to save lives," ruled the court, "with no discernible impact on the public safety." The King County Council has until August 24 to put I-27 on the November ballot, but on Monday adopted a tactic that would delay a public vote into next year. "The lawsuit claiming the public has no voice over their own community's health policy will further alienate people," said Bryant. "Our community needs to have a conversation about the effectiveness of safe injection sites. The people want this conversation and want a voice in the decision-making." Bryant is an opponent of safe injection sites. The Protect Public Health group filed its complaint with King County Superior Court, and argued that health professionals know best. "Unlike the board of health and the county council, voters are in no position to weigh the scientific evidence or understand the impact of vetoing part of a multi-prong response to a local public health crisis," the group argued in the complaint. "That is why state law is clear that local public health decisions are not made by electioneering." The King County Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force, in a report last fall, recommended that two pilot injection sites be opened, one in the city and the other in the county, to address the opioid epidemic. The recommendation has spurred a reaction. Auburn, Bellevue, Federal Way and Renton have said they will not permit an injection site inside their cities. Protect Public Health cited supporters whose lives and families have been impacted by the opioid crisis. "My family knows much too well that people who die never have another chance. They never get to recover," said Michael Roberts, who lost his daughter Amber to a heroin overdose. "I never want another parent to suffer the loss of a child. Supervised consumption spaces ave lives. Treatment is of paramount importance, but we need to keep people alive if they are ever going to get there." Turina James, in recovery from opiate addition, was quoted as saying: "I-27 is the wrong approach because it forces people into unsupervised injection spaces such as bathrooms and alleys." There were 332 overdoses in King County last year, 70 percent involving opioids. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt