A group of health care providers, drug reform advocates and former users will be in Rochester next Monday to roll out a controversial plan in the battle against the heroin epidemic.
They're proposing facilities across the state where addicts would be able to shoot up or consume drugs in a safe, secure location under the supervision of medical personnel who could intervene in the event of an overdose.
The idea is drawing some mixed reaction locally.
"To encourage heroin use in any way, shape, or form is a recipe for disaster and probably, most likely, tragedy," said Gates Town supervisor Mark Assini. He says his reasons are both practical and personal. Assini has a sister who was a long-term heroin user.
"I've stood in line at the methadone clinic. I have watched as this sibling was shot in the heart with adrenaline to bring her back. Heroin is a very deadly substance and the proposal, I'm sure, is well meaning because the heroin epidemic is affecting every family across every demographic, but it is a short-sighted proposal."
Assini believes the best way to combat the scourge of opioid addiction is to invest more tax dollars in rehab facilities and in efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S.
But Yana Khashper of the nonprofit ROCovery Fitness thinks the supervised drug use centers are a worthwhile idea to try to put a dent in an epidemic that she says is getting worse every day.
"The community sort of benefits where folks aren't just on streets, in neighborhoods. Of course, there's the risk of death (if they are) alone and isolated."
Advocates of the plan will bring a traveling exhibit about their proposal in Rochester next Monday, May 4, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the MLK, Jr. Memorial Lodge at 535 Court Street, Rochester, 14607. More information is available at http://tinyurl.com/kzyrdks
RECOVERY OUTREACH CENTER
On May 1, ROCovery Fitness will cut the ribbon on its new Recovery Outreach Center at 1035 Dewey Avenue. Khaspher called the center the first of its kind in the state.
It offers yoga, meditation, and fitness activities for people who have been sober for at least 48 hours. Khashper says it fills the gap between treatment and groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
"Generally, people are not relapsing when they're in an outpatient setting or in a meeting,” she said. “But when they have that down time and they are isolating or going back to those same neighborhoods, or maybe going to family and friends who are not the best influences, that's when they're in trouble."
Khashper said the center is modeled after the Phoenix Multisport, a sober active community in Arizona.
