Philadelphia bans supervised injection sites – evidence suggests keeping drug users on the street could do more harm than good

A registered nurse treats Dominic Rodriguez for a skin injury related to xylazine use in Philadelphia in May 2023. Treatment vans are allowed in the city, but not supervised injection sites. Matt Rourke/AP Photo

The United States remains tightly in the grasp of an ongoing, and escalating, crisis of deaths caused by opioid overdoses.

With a record-high 109,000 people dying in 2022, it is clear that something new needs to be done to reverse this trend.