Harm-Reduction Beats Drug War as Response to Addiction

The drug warriors in the Trump administration are doing everything they can think of to stop a nonprofit group in Philadelphia from opening a “safe consumption site” in the city’s horrifying Kensington neighborhood, a place for heroin users to shoot up under medical supervision, with clean needles and counter-overdose drugs close at hand. The matter is under litigation in federal court.

Philadelphia has a rough reputation, but, as with many similar American cities, you could visit there, see the sights, walk the streets, and never see anything that seemed especially amiss, only the usual panhandling and low-level urban disorder that you might see in any city. You can go hear Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting one of the world’s great orchestras, try Jon Chicon’s menu at Lacroix and learn what fourme d’Ambert is, stroll around Rittenhouse Square, and think that you are in one of the country’s great urban oases — which you are. Philadelphia is a splendid city with an incompetent ruling class and a couple of very, very bad neighborhoods.

About the Author

Kevin D. Williamson

Kevin D. Williamson is a former fellow at National Review Institute and a former roving correspondent for National Review.

The drug warriors in the Trump administration are doing everything they can think of to stop a nonprofit group in Philadelphia from opening a “safe consumption site” in the city’s horrifying Kensington neighborhood, a place for heroin users to shoot up under medical supervision, with clean needles and counter-overdose drugs close at hand. The matter is under litigation in federal court.

Philadelphia has a rough reputation, but, as with many similar American cities, you could visit there, see the sights, walk the streets, and never see anything that seemed especially amiss, only the usual panhandling and low-level urban disorder that you might see in any city. You can go hear Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting one of the world’s great orchestras, try Jon Chicon’s menu at Lacroix and learn what fourme d’Ambert is, stroll around Rittenhouse Square, and think that you are in one of the country’s great urban oases — which you are. Philadelphia is a splendid city with an incompetent ruling class and a couple of very, very bad neighborhoods.