SOMERVILLE, Mass. (AP) — Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone says the city is going ahead with plans to open a supervised injection site for drug users in the city sometime next year.
This despite a promise by the state’s top federal prosecutor to block any safe injection site from operating in Massachusetts.
Curtatone told WBUR-FM that opening a clinic where health care professionals could monitor drug use and potentially steer addicts into treatment would save lives. The mayor noted he attended a funeral on Monday for a person who died as a result of the opioid epidemic.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said that barring a change of position by the Justice Department, should Somerville were to go ahead with its plans, “federal enforcement will follow.”
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker also opposes supervised injection sites.
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