Philadelphia City Council takes vote on supervised injection sites

CENTER CITY - Philadelphia city council is back in session after its summer break and a hot-button issue is up for debate.

In a majority vote, the Philadelphia City Council voted and passed two resolutions on supervised injection sites on Thursday.

One resolution calls on the mayor, Safehouse and the Department of Justice to stop the implementation of injection sites to involve community groups and other branches of government.

Another ordinance adds a zoning overlay to ban organizations from opening sites throughout the city, with the exception of District 3, which covers West and Southwest Philadelphia.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who represents District 3, was not present during the vote but tweeted a statement that said in part:

"There is no plan to implement an overdose prevention center in West or Southwest, or in any part of the city. I respect my colleagues’ right to legislate zoning in their City Council districts, but I hope that they will change their minds in the future and join me in allowing residents to decide for themselves whether they want life-saving overdose prevention centers in their neighborhoods."

"The majority of the individuals who were in support of the bill do not live in the Kensington-Harrowgate community," said Councilmember Quetzy Lozada of District 7 who sponsored both bills.

At-Large Councilmember Kendra Brooks was the only one who voted against the resolutions. "We should not be banning a tool that could save lives. We should be making decisions based on evidence based public health research. Tools that have been proven to be effective and lived experience."

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During public comments, supporters of the bill said they do not support safe injection sites, but rather prevention and treatment intervention.

"I’m firmly in support of banning safe injection sites across the city, but I’m here today to raise an alarm that the third district is the only district not included in the current overlay area. That makes Southwest and West Philadelphia the only areas in the city that safe injection sites can be open," said Jabari Jones of Belmont. "As a resident I worry about the kind of crime, violence and drug sales that will follow an injection site that will open in my community."

Rosalind Pichardo, of Operation Save Our City, in Kensington carries a first aid bag with Narcan and writes down every single overdose she has reversed in a small bible.

"It’s been 2,098 overdose reversals since 2018," said Pichardo. "I think having a safe consumption site will alleviate some of the pressures off myself. I’m a resident. I’m not an EMS worker, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse but what’s happening in Kensington has me doing this."

The ordinance will head to the mayor’s desk for review and signature. Mayor Jim Kenney has two weeks to make his decision.