A nonprofit that favors a public health response to drug addiction is prohibited from operating a “safe injection” site in Philadelphia manned by people trained to spot and treat overdoses because it’s a federal crime to open a property for drug use by others, the Third Circuit said Tuesday.
“Safehouse’s benevolent motive"—to reduce drug overdose deaths and prevent diseases caused by needle-sharing—"makes no difference,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said. It’s barred by a federal law designed to shut down crack houses, which is valid under Congress’s power to ban interstate commerce in drugs, the court ...