Pierce County considers ban on drug consumption sites

The Pierce County Council will vote on Monday on whether to preemptively ban drug consumption sites.

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The council declared an opioid crisis last year. It’s considering a resolution to keep drug consumption sites out of unincorporated Pierce County, even though none of the supervised drug sites were under consideration there.

The sponsor of the resolution, Jim McCune, told The News Tribune that instead of drug consumption sites, the county should instead focus on treatment programs.

According to The News Tribune, there were 694 opioid-related deaths in Washington State in 2016. Of those deaths, 81 were in Pierce County.

If the vote goes through, Pierce County would join a number of local jurisdictions that have already voted to ban such sites including Snohomish County, Federal Way, and Bellevue.

This comes as President Trump is unveiling his plans to tackle the nationwide opioid epidemic on Monday.

The administration said the goals include the death penalty for drug dealers in fatal overdose cases, cutting opioid prescriptions by a third nationwide over three years, supporting law enforcement, launching an advertising campaign to promote prevention and education and helping people impacted by the epidemic find jobs while fighting addiction.

Congress recently appropriated $6 billion to help curb the drug epidemic.

Trump is expected to detail his plan in New Hampshire, a state hard-hit by the crisis.