Supreme Court urged to review ban on drug injection sites

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Supporters of a plan to open supervised injection sites to try to reduce overdose deaths urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to review a court decision that bans the practice. The test case centers on Philadelphia, but officials in several states are watching closely as they debate the idea. Philadelphia’s mayor and top prosecutor endorse the plan, but former U.S. Attorney William McSwain insisted it would violate a 1980s-era drug law aimed at “crackhouses.” Nationally, more than 93,000 people died last year from overdose deaths. The Justice Department under President Joe Biden has so far stayed neutral in the litigation.