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California Governor Jerry Brown on Sunday rejected the bill that would have allowed San Francisco to open what could be the country's first supervised drug injection site as part of a pilot program.
Safer injection site advocates claim that these sites would save lives by preventing overdoses of drugs and providing access to advice.
However, the US government and other critics say taxpayers should not help users powder heroin, methamphetamine or other illicit drugs.
"Basically, I do not believe that allowing illegal drug use in government-sponsored injection sites – with no corresponding treatment obligation, will reduce drug addiction," Brown said in his veto announcement.
San Francisco mayor, London Breed, promised to open a supervised injection site, saying the status quo was unacceptable in a city known for its endemic drug use. It is not uncommon to see people injecting drugs in public, and used needles are a major source of waste.
"Secure injection sites save lives," she said Sunday. "If we want to prevent overdoses and put people in touch with the services and treatments they absolutely need to stop using drugs, we need safe injection sites."
The country is struggling with an opioid epidemic that has resulted in an increase in overdose deaths. The increase was attributed to fentanyl, a pain reliever, and similar powerful drugs but relatively inexpensive and able to use drugs, safe from the buyers.
San Francisco has reported about 200 overdose deaths each year in recent years, mostly opioids.
AB186 would have protected staff and participants from prosecution of illegal narcotics.
But it offered no legal protection against federal laws, including a "crack house" law that makes it an offense to knowingly keep a place to use a controlled substance.
San Francisco has not hesitated to confront the US government and has repeatedly sued the Trump administration, including a lawsuit about protecting a sanctuary for people living illegally in the country.
The issue of drug injection sites would probably be before a federal judge if San Francisco opened a clinic, according to legal experts.
Robert Mikos, who teaches federalism and drug law at Vanderbilt Law School, said that a quasi-medical facility where the goal is to reduce harm seems well-intentioned, but appears to violate a law previously used to attack people who run addiction centers.
"It would depend on the willingness of federal prosecutors to pursue this violation," he said. "Federal prosecutors still have some discretion, and they enjoy some independence from Washington, DC, and the Attorney General, but the situation is delicate."
Leo Beletsky, associate professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University, said that a federal judge could be supportive of San Francisco.
"If you had it before a judge, it's everyone," he said. "You can argue very reasonably that a health facility of this type is not supposed to be covered by the crack law."
There are safe injection sites in Canada and Europe, but none in the United States. Seattle, New York and Philadelphia are among the cities that have pledged support.
A few days after California lawmakers sent the law to the governor in August, US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein wrote in the New York Times that the federal government would take drastic action against any supervised injection site.
"Americans struggling with substance abuse problems need treatment and access to deadly drugs. They do not need a taxpayer-sponsored haven to fire, "he wrote.
State Senator Scott Wiener, Democrat in San Francisco and co-author of the legislation, said the city was not hesitant to confront the federal government for what he calls a war against the drug.
He noted that the city has long led the country in health and safety policy, as well as challenging the federal government.
"We have set up a needle exchange before it's legal. We have put medical cannabis in place before it is legal and we have always been in the vanguard of the sanctuary city movement, "he said.
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, disseminated, rewritten or redistributed.
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