美国国家公共电台 NPR Desperate Cities Consider 'Safe Injection' Sites For Opioid Users

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Philadelphia is looking at a new tool to fight opioid addictions¹ - supervised injection sites. That's where people can safely inject heroin² or other opioids under medical supervision³. It would be the first such site in the U.S., as Bobby Allyn of member station WHYY reports.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁴: It's a divisive idea - letting people shoot up with clean needles and their own drugs while under the watch of medical staff. Advocates say this form of harm reduction can be a bridge to treatment. There are 90 such facilities around the world, and Philadelphia might just be uniquely positioned to host the nation's first. Opioids were the main driver in what officials believe were 1,200 drug overdose deaths in Philadelphia last year. That's quadruple the city's murder rate.

LARRY KRASNER: Supervised injection sites are a form of harm reduction. They've been proven to be very important.

ALLYN: That's the city's new left-leaning district attorney Larry Krasner, who was sworn in last week. If a safe injection site opens, he's promised not to prosecute⁵ drug crimes there. To backers, that's huge.

KRASNER: The only way to get people to turn their lives around is to keep them alive long enough so they can do that. And we're going to do that.

ALLYN: Sources close to Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney talk about him favoring safe injection sites. But publicly, Kenney says he's still studying the issue. Thirty-nine-year-old electrician Johnny (ph) from Philadelphia suburbs hopes the mayor will soon be outspoken⁶ about supporting an injection site.

JOHNNY: I would absolutely go there.

ALLYN: We're withholding⁷ Johnny's last name since he uses illegal opioids. He's standing⁸ under a bridge in the neighborhood Kensington, the heart of the opioid crisis and the likely location of a safe injection site. On both sides of the trash-strewn road, there are long rows of ragged⁹ tents. Visitors like Johnny use the mini-encampment as a private space to do heroin. He says he'd rather use a medically supervised facility.

JOHNNY: People aren't going to be shooting up on your front stoop, you know, or in your back yard, hiding or even here. You know what I mean? They come down here and get high, and they die here, like, under a bridge.

ALLYN: Others would prefer to fight the epidemic¹⁰ with handcuffs. Philadelphia's police commissioner¹¹ has been skeptical¹² about designating a place for the use of an illegal narcotic¹³. And even if local police can be convinced, the proposal is likely to provoke a standoff with the federal government, which has promised to aggressively crack down on a similar plan in Vermont. Patrick Trainer is a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency's Philadelphia field office.

PATRICK TRAINER: Are we going to do that? And next year - the year following, are we then going to be talking about, OK, well, there're still overdose deaths, so maybe we need to look into government-supplied, you know, drugs?

ALLYN: Yet supporters of safe injection sites say when people consume drugs alone, they're more likely to die of an overdose. Jen Bowles' research backs this up. She's studied the opioid crisis in Kensington at Drexel University.

JEN BOWLES: There's a tremendous fear that says if we create a space in which drug users can more safely consume drugs, that that may somehow be encouraging drug use. But that conflicts with the science that has found that not to be true.

ALLYN: And another study in the journal The Lancet found that overdose deaths around a safe injection site in Canada dropped 35 percent around the facility after it opened. Despite that evidence, the safe injection site is still likely to be a tough sell for Kensington neighbors. Standing along the row of tents, Johnny says he would make this case to those troubled by the idea.

JOHNNY: Someday, their children could be out here using. Wouldn't they want their kids to be in a safe environment if they're not able to beat the disease?

ALLYN: As the safe injection site debate goes on, the city has other initiatives underway - from education campaigns trying to end the stigma¹⁴ around opioid use to making sure overdose-reversing drugs are in the hands of more people.

For NPR News, I'm Bobby Allyn in Philadelphia.

(SOUNDBITEOF JOY WANTS ETERNITY'S "DEATH IS A DOOR THAT OPENS")

1 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

2 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

6 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

7 withholding   

扣缴税款

参考例句：

• She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
• The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 ragged   

adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的

参考例句：

• A ragged shout went up from the small crowd.这一小群人发出了刺耳的喊叫。
• Ragged clothing infers poverty.破衣烂衫意味着贫穷。

10 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

11 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

12 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

13 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

14 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。