Massachusetts Medical Society recommends medically supervised drug use clinics
Massachusetts, devastated by thousands of opioid-related deaths in recent years, should take the unusual step of opening clinics where drug users could inject under medical supervision, according to the Massachusetts Medical Society.
The society’s governing body voted overwhelmingly Saturday to adopt a resolution urging Massachusetts to set up a pilot program that would allow up to two such clinics in the state.
“It’s counterintuitive that you would let people do something that is illegal and dangerous in a setting that is safer,” said Dr. Barbara Herbert, president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. “But in fact, there’s good scientific and epidemiologic evidence that it saves lives, and we’re in such a terrible epidemic that anything that saves lives, we want to embrace.”
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