What to Know
- U.S. Attorney WIlliam McSwain opposes a plan to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia.
- Safehouse would be the first safe-injection site in the United States. The facility would aim to reducing opioid overdose deaths.
- Supporters include prominent Democrats in the city, Mayor Jim Kenney, DA Larry Krasner and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.
Photos of young people lost to the opioid crisis are perched outside the federal courthouse as a judge Monday decides if Philadelphia can become the first U.S. city to open a supervised injection site.
U.S. Attorney William McSwain opposes the plan. The appointee of President Donald Trump says it violates federal drug laws.
Safehouse supporters include three prominent Democrats in the city, Mayor Jim Kenney, District Attorney Larry Krasner and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.
Safehouse founders believe they can reduce overdose deaths by having people use drugs under medical supervision at a site where they can also be offered treatment.
U.S. District Judge Gerald McHugh Jr. is weighing McSwain's motion to block the site from opening in the city's drug-ravaged Kensington neighborhood. The hearing is expected to last through Tuesday.
