Plans to open the first “safe drug injection site” in the US have been scrapped after widespread opposition in Philadelphia.
The proposed centre, where people with addictions could receive medical help to inject drugs, was due to open next week.
However, Safehouse, the charity behind the proposed safe injection facility (SIF), withdrew the plan on Thursday.
The backlash it faced laid bare the controversy over SIFs in the US.
A protest was planned for Sunday in South Philadelphia and an online petition to stop the site from being built gathered over 5,800 signatures within 12 hours.
The outpouring of community anger prompted the charity to postpone the opening of the SIF days after winning a two-year court battle for the right to operate.
“We’re going to take a pause, even though we are legally entitled to open,” Ronda Goldfein, the charity’s vice president said. The group said it would seek to have “meaningful conversations” with the community before going forward.
Meanwhile, the US attorney for Pennsylvania’s Eastern District has said he will appeal against the ruling that cleared Safehouse to open the SIF.
What is a safe injection facility?
The battle is latest hurdle to opening a safe injection facility in the US.
Such places, sometimes called “fixing rooms”, have existed in Europe since the 1970s and were pioneered in London as early as in the 1960s.
Advocates say that by providing places with medical help for people with addictions to inject, more overdose deaths can be prevented and more people who need help can be reached.
