CA Lawmakers, Experts Support Safe Consumption Room Pilot on International Overdose Awareness Day

WHAT:  Press Conference on AB 186 to Pilot Safe Consumption Services


WHEN:  Thursday, August 31 at 9:30am

WHERE:  Governor’s Press Room, Room 1190, First Floor, State Capitol, Sacramento, California.  LIVESTREAM here or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUYBlXyQfIo

WHO:

• Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, (D-Stockton) author of AB 186
• State Senator Scott Wiener, (D-San Francisco), coauthor of AB 186
• Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), coauthor of AB 186
• Alex Kral, PhD, researcher; author of A Cost-Benefit Analysis of a Potential Supervised Injection Facility in San Francisco, California, USA published in Journal of Drug Issues
• Lora Schroeder, Parent, Board Member of Sacramento Harm Reduction Services
• Laura Thomas, MPH, MPP. Drug Policy Alliance, Member of San Francisco Safe Injection Services Task Force

Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the State of California and the United States.  The American Medical Association, California Society of Addiction Medicine, California Association of Drug and Alcohol Program Executives, AIDS Project Los Angeles, among others, have called for the piloting and evaluation of Safe Consumption Services (SCS) as part of a continuum of care to prevent fatal drug overdoses, prevent transmission of HIV & hepatitis C, and to provide a low-threshold entry point for drug treatment, medical care, social services and mental healthcare.  Even President Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General has said SCS should be piloted in the United States pursuant to local control.

AB 186 (Eggman/Wiener/Friedman) would create a legal framework for local governments in 8 counties to pilot and evaluate Safe Consumption Services, if they so choose. There are almost 100 programs existing in 60 cities of Europe, Canada and Australia, and the evaluations have been impressive. San Francisco and Seattle appear poised to be the first cities in the US to pilot SCS.

August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day.