Pam Roach is leading the charge to keep injection sites out of Pierce County

The fight over safe injection sites continues to grow.

The Pierce County Council heard comments Monday, March 19, from the public reacting to a proposed ban on safe injection sites in unincorporated Pierce County.

Rantz: A visit to Vancouver’s injection site

The ban would be preemptive. There are no plans to set up a site in Pierce County, unincorporated or otherwise. Councilmember Pam Roach doesn’t want to wait around.

“We want to be on the offense saying we don’t want these,” Roach told 770 KTTH’s Jason Rantz.

Critics of the proposal, like Roach’s fellow Councilmember Rick Talbert, say it’s irresponsible to categorically ban something before knowing whether it could actually help.

“We should be looking at all options,” Talbert told Rantz. “We shouldn’t be removing items from a list of potential solutions before we’ve even looked at whether or not that is a viable choice for our community.”

King County is still determining where to place two proposed safe injection sites. Seattle will be the home to one, another will go elsewhere.

Roach’s proposed ban is only for unincorporated Pierce County, meaning the decision wouldn’t apply to any municipality with its own city council.

“We’re not talking about the City of Tacoma, the City of Puyallup, or the City of Fife,” Roach said. “They can make their own decisions at the local level with city councils.”

Talbert agrees that Pierce County probably isn’t ready for a safe injection site, and he’s not certain it will be anytime soon. He just wants to make sure drug users aren’t demonized in the conversation.

“I’ve been listening to it for seven years now,” Talbert said. “Council members who refer to people addicted to drugs as sub-human or non-human.”

Talbert’s dissent isn’t likely to change anything. Roach believes she has the votes she needs.

“He’s not going to win on this issue,” Roach said, “in my opinion.”

There are already safe injection sites in Vancouver, B.C., where researchers say the program is saving lives.

Addict’s sister fears inevitable safe injection sites

Roach believes the county would be better served by investing in drug addiction treatment services.

“We have, in my opinion, not enough treatment facilities for these individuals,” Roach said. “You need to interact with them on the ground level and when they are ready for treatment, get them into a program.”

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