Activists are expected to rally at the State House on Monday, hoping to persuade Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and state lawmakers to allow drug users to shoot up at supervised injection sites.

The demonstration is expected to include parents who have lost children to the opioid overdose epidemic.

A legislative commission in February recommended that lawmakers approve the creation of one or more supervised injection sites where individuals could inject drugs obtained elsewhere. Health care professionals would be on hand to prevent fatal overdoses.

Baker has brushed aside the idea, saying the proposal is illegal under federal law.

Protest organizers have said Baker has to abandon what they describe as his "ideological opposition" to the sites and pursue legislation.

The U.S. currently has no publicly sanctioned safe injection facilities