In response to over-incarceration and the ‘skyrocketing overdose deaths,’ Ithaca announced a plan that would set up the nation’s first supervised injection facility.

Supervised injection facilities are controlled health care settings where people can more safely inject drugs under clinical supervision and receive health care, counseling, and referrals to health and social services, including drug treatment.

These facilities have been rigorously studied and found to reduce the spread of infectious disease, overdose deaths, and improperly discarded injection equipment, and to increase public order, access to drug treatment and other services, and to save taxpayer money

Ithaca Mayer Svante Myrick met with the Municipal Drug Policy Committee a year and a half ago to begin crafting this new approach for Ithaca.

“While much of drug policy is driven at the state and federal level, there is a great deal that municipalities can do to create more effective drug polices,” said Myrick. “Given the way that drugs and drug policies are harming our community, I know we need a totally new approach. I’m pleased that we’ve arrived a plan that includes broad community participation and innovative recommendations to improve the health and safety of Ithacans.”

More than 20 recommendations have emerged from this plan, some of which include:

A research Heroin Assisted Treatment: Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) is a form of medical care that involves the carefully regulated and controlled prescription of heroin for people who have failed on other drug treatments. Research has shown that HAT can reduce drug use, overdose deaths, infectious disease, and crime, while saving money and promoting social integration.

Creating an Office of Drug Policy: One the central problems with drug policy in Ithaca and elsewhere is that agencies often work at cross pursues with little coordination.

By creating a central Office of Drug Policy, Ithaca will be able to coordinate its response to drugs and work to implement the recommendations in The Ithaca Plan.

Opening a 24-hour Crisis Center— A central finding of the Municipal Drug Policy Committee was the need of a centralized place to help people navigate the treatment and social service systems. Creating a centralized crisis center will facilitate entry into treatment, provide a much need space for people in immediate crisis, and help coordinate across systems of care.

Implementation of Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion— Instead of arresting and booking people for certain petty offenses, including low-level drug possession and sales, law enforcement immediately directs them to housing, treatment, and other services.

The plan aims to “reduce racial disparities and criminalization, while creating safer, more productive communities and managing drug use and drug policy issues squarely within a framework of public health and safety.”