By Jean Marbella and Meredith Cohn
Unlike the public bathrooms, dark alleys and vacant rowhomes where addicts furtively conduct their business, the facility’s atmosphere would be welcoming and clean. Users could avail themselves of new needles and alcohol swabs — with trained staff discreetly nearby in case of overdose — then linger in a “chill” room as they come down from their high.
At a time of rampant overdose deaths, when opioids claim four lives a day in Maryland alone, the provocative idea of allowing addicts to use illegal drugs in a supervised setting is gaining greater traction here.
“Clearly, the way we’ve been dealing with addiction in Baltimore hasn’t been working,” said City Council President Brandon Scott.
