Staten Island DA Keeps Overdose Prevention Program Off His Turf

While Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx will soon take part in the city's latest effort to combat the opioid crisis, Staten Island — the borough with the highest rate of heroin-elated overdose deaths — will sit this one out. 

Last Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City would set up four "safe injection sites" — clinic-type settings where drug users can take intravenous drugs under supervision of trained staff members who can intervene in case of overdose.

But when City Hall approached Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon and asked for his cooperation, he refused.

McMahon told WNYC he believes safe injection sites will not reduce overdose deaths, but will “normalize heroin use and increase crime.”

Diane Arneth, who runs the only syringe exchange program on Staten Island, does not agree. She says those sorts of arguments sound awfully familiar.

“That’s what they used to say about syringe exchange — that they would attract drug users and that hasn’t happened," she said. "There’s no reason to think they will happen with [safe injection sites] either.”

City officials say the cooperation of the local district attorney will be important for the success of the site, since clients, staff and operators risk criminal prosecution for using or enabling the use of illicit drugs. Prosecutors in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx are more open to the idea.