Vt. GOP sounds the alarm on safe injection site bill

MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont Republican lawmakers on Tuesday said allowing the state to set up safe injection sites for dangerous narcotics is the wrong approach to stemming the opioid crisis.

Facing an ongoing surge of fatal overdoses, lawmakers in the Vermont House Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would create overdose prevention sites, also known as safe injection sites. House Bill H.72 provides $2 million for two of these sites — one in Burlington and another in southern Vermont.

But members of the GOP minority are largely opposed and say the state should instead expand its hub and spoke treatment model, where drug users can take maintenance drugs like buprenorphine and methadone. They also want police to enforce Vermont’s existing drug laws and make investments in prevention, treatment, and recovery.

Rep. Eric Maguire, R-Rutland, is a drug and alcohol counselor and says Vermont needs to follow treatment models that are approved by the federal government. “We may come to the point where we can cross that bridge, but at this time we can’t. We are literally throwing people over the ravine and expecting they will have a safe landing. They have to go through the process,” he said during a Statehouse press conference Tuesday.

Opponents are also concerned with the legal risks, including no age restrictions for those using the sites, and that those staffing the sites would not be considered mandatory reporters by the Department for Children and Families.

The proposal is now in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.