PHILADELPHIA (CN) — A Philadelphia nonprofit heading efforts in the city to open supervised drug consumption centers suffered a critical blow on Wednesday after a federal judge ruled that such a facility violates U.S. law.
U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh wrote in a seven-page opinion that nonprofit group Safehouse failed to justify its right to bypass a section of the Controlled Substances Act colloquially known as the "crack house statute," which makes it illegal for anyone to maintain a place for the purpose of storing, using or selling drugs.
Safehouse argued in court that because their mission to save lives by preventing overdoses is inspired by Judeo-Christian beliefs, federal law preventing supervised injection sites violated the organization's religious freedom — an argument that McHugh ultimately rejected.
"The noble intentions of Safehouse and its founders are self-evident, and the public health crisis they seek to address continues unabated, but their religious inspiration does not provide a shield against prosecution for violation of a federal criminal statute barring its operation," McHugh wrote in the ruling.
Following the ruling, Safehouse co-founder Ronda Goldfein on Thursday expressed the group's disappointment in McHugh's decision and its implications for harm reduction.
"We respectfully disagree with his reasoning," she said. "But even more importantly, we are disappointed that we have spent the last five years trying to assert the right to essentially save lives in Philadelphia."
Safehouse's legal battle to open a supervised injection center in Philadelphia has been ongoing since February 2019, when the U.S. Department of Justice first argued in court that such a site would violate the Controlled Substances Act.
McHugh denied the Justice Department's motion in October of that year, arguing that Safehouse's goals ultimately oppose the use of drugs.
An appeals court ultimately struck down that ruling, and after settlement negotiations between the Justice Department and Safehouse broke down, the parties returned to federal court in 2023, leading to McHugh's decision Wednesday.
Goldfein told Courthouse News that while their yearslong legal debacle has been a rollercoaster for Safehouse, its greatest impact has been felt by everyday Philadelphians.
"When you count lives in Philadelphia, and when you count years, five years is 6,500 [overdose] deaths in Philadelphia," she said. "When we think about all the work we could have done, all the lives we could have saved, all the connections we could have made…there's a great feeling of lost opportunity."
Shifting opinion of harm reduction programs in the city's mayoral administration has only compounded Safehouse's concerns. Mayor Cherelle Parker, who took office in January, announced March 15 that "not one city dollar" would be put toward funding sterile needle distribution services for drug use. Those services, despite being prohibited by state law, have operated in Philadelphia with city approval since 1992, and cost Philly about $38,000 last year.
Parker also strongly opposed supervised injection sites throughout her 2023 electoral campaign.
"We have an administration that is not welcoming to the existing harm reduction efforts," Goldfein said. "Adding this [court decision] on top of that just makes things that much more bleak in Philadelphia."
"We can't just wish away our problems," she added. "We have to have concrete suggestions, and harm reduction is at the top of the list for our concrete suggestions."
Only two government-sanctioned supervised drug consumption centers exist in the U.S., both operated by nonprofit OnPoint NYC in New York.
The Washington Heights and East Harlem facilities, called Overdose Prevention Centers by OnPoint, house workers trained to prevent overdoses and allow people to inject or smoke their own drugs on-site. The centers also provide sterile needle distribution services, test individuals for infectious diseases, and connect people to outside addiction treatment programs.
"We couldn't be more proud of our colleagues at OnPoint," Goldfein said. "We couldn't be more supportive that they are able to do it. We wish we could do the same good work for Philadelphians — Philadelphians deserve to be saved too."
As Safehouse considers its options in the wake of Wednesday's court ruling, Goldfein expressed concern over how Philadelphia's drug crisis could grow if action is not taken soon.
"If next year we see proportionally more overdoses, what will that tell us?" she asked. "If there's not sufficient support for vulnerable populations, we will see that in the numbers. And so I hope a year from now, we are not having an even more disappointing conversation."
A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment.
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