Previously:

• Curry Board of Commissioners Agrees to Follow Brookings in Drafting Ordinance That Aims to Avoid ‘Safe Injection Sites’ and ‘Supervised Drug Consumption Facilities’

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The Brookings City Council on Monday will consider an ordinance banning safe injection sites, with city staff approaching the topic as a land-use issue.

Under the draft ordinance, which amends the Brookings Municipal Code, the purpose of Chapter 17.82 is to “prohibit activities detrimental to the residents and visitors in all zones of the city.”

The proposed ordinance mentions supervised drug consumption facilities as facilities designed to provide a hygienic environment where individuals are “able to consume illicit drugs intravenously or by other means” and states they will be prohibited in all lands districts within the city.

“An SDCF includes all uses established or activities undertaken for the above-defined purposes, irrespective of how the use or activity is described. An SDCF may also be referred to as a medically supervised injection center, community health engagement location, supervised injection site or facility, safe injection site, fix room, or drug consumption facility,” the proposed ordinance reads.

The Brookings City Council first discussed banning safe injection sites at a March 7 workshop. According to a staff report by City Manager Janel Howard, though staff didn’t find examples of cities or counties in Oregon that have enacted such a ban, several communities in Washington State, including Bellevue, have adopted ordinances.

Brookings city staff prepared a land development code revision and presented it to the Planning Commission, which unanimously recommended the Council approve it at a May 3 meeting.

There are no known safe injection sites in Curry County, Brookings City Councilor Ed Schreiber told the Outpost in March. However local organizations like Brookings CORE Response and HIV Alliance offer “harm reduction” services like needle exchange programs, overdose prevention education and access to naloxone, which treats opioid overdose.

At the county level, Curry County commissioners in March voted to begin drafting an ordinance banning safe injection sites and supervised drug consumption facilities.

The Brookings City Council meets at 7 p.m. Monday in City Council Chambers, 898 Elk Drive in Brookings. Agendas are available at www.brookings.or.us.

Documents:

• Proposed Safe Injection Site Ban Ordinance

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