“Opiate use is a medical condition, not a criminal justice problem. These sites are not primarily about giving people a place to inject—though that’s an important part of what they do to reverse overdoses—but more importantly giving them a doorway to access treatment.” 

–Dr. Jeffrey S. Duchin, cochair, Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Task Force

“Answers like Let’s move to the Amsterdam model and legalize all drugs—I think that’ll be a complete failure in our county. We cannot allow local governments to get into the illegal drug business.”  

–Mark Miloscia, Washington state senator, Republican, 30th District

“We’ve been beating our heads against the wall by throwing people in jail for decades now, so we need to be more creative. There’s a big jump between active use and admission to treatment. And that’s the gap that the safe injection facility has the potential to meet.” 

–Molly Carney, executive director, Evergreen Treatment Services