For Immediate Release:
November 17, 2020
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, 202.724.8105 - mnocella@dccouncil.us
Council advances a public health approach to opioid crisis in D.C.
Washington, D.C. – The following is a statement from Councilmember David Grosso on today’s passage on first reading of the Opioid Overdose Treatment and Prevention Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020, which includes portions of Councilmember Grosso’s Safe Access for Public Health Amendment Act of 2017:
“The District of Columbia, like jurisdictions across the country, faces an opioid crisis that has claimed the lives of hundreds D.C. residents–over 80 percent of whom were Black. The ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency has only made this crisis worse. For too long, we as a society have attempted to end problematic drug use through criminalization. The War on Drugs has failed. Rather than any meaningful reduction in personal drug use, we instead see overdoses, racist mass incarceration, and increased spread of infectious diseases.
“The passage of the Opioid Overdose Treatment and Prevention Omnibus Amendment Act of 2020 brings the District of Columbia closer to completely abandoning that model in favor of a harm reduction and public health approach. In addition to providing greater access to lifesaving naloxone, it ends the criminalization of drug paraphernalia possession for individuals and community-based health organizations. This small but important step will add to the already successful harm reduction policies we have enacted, reduce unnecessary and counterproductive interactions with the criminal justice system, and save lives.
“There is much more D.C. can do. Improving access to the District’s medical marijuana program can reduce prescriptions of opioid painkillers. Safe injection sites can prevent overdoses and connect individuals with treatment. We must also take a serious look at how drug criminalization drives users away from society and further from the medical help they need. I hope that the next Council continues moving these issues forward to protect the health and safety of all our residents, especially the most marginalized in our communities.”
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