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Council restricts city support for some "safe supply" items after heated debate
Summary
The committee approved a proviso (HSD 57a1) limiting city support for distribution of drug consumption supplies other than needles following debate over harm-reduction evidence, public-safety concerns and overdose statistics. Vote passed 5-3 with one abstention.
Seattle's Select Budget Committee voted to limit city-funded distribution of some drug consumption supplies after more than an hour of debate that framed the issue as a public-health question about harm reduction versus enabling use.
Council President Lorena Nelson, sponsor of HSD 57a1, said she supports needle-exchange programs because they reduce disease transmission but opposed distributing items "such as pipes and foil, that are used to consume deadly drugs like meth and fentanyl." Nelson cited local overdose figures to make…
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