Seattle and King County could open the nation's first supervised drug use site. The idea doesn't have formal approval, but King County's Board of Health and a separate heroin task force have both endorsed the sites.

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Safe drug consumption sites are staffed with medical professionals. There's one in Vancouver, B.C., and supporters say the clinic helps prevent overdoses.

King County leaders are expected to announce within the next few weeks whether they will open one here. Both Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and County Executive Dow Constantine have vocally supported the idea but have not committed to a plan. Constantine thinks if they do open a supervised drug site, they won't need to wait for federal approval.

Constantine: "This would be our local work and what we want to do is simply make sure that we're thinking first of the lives of our residents. And whatever we can do to help free people from this horrible opioid epidemic, we want to do."