The concept of safe injection sites for drug users is a simpler idea than usually portrayed, and the controversy surrounding proposals for these sites muddies the clarity of their mission. A safe injection site is where a drug user can go to gain access to clean needles and supervision from public health workers while they take drugs, making addiction and drug use less dangerous for the user and for the public. A bill in the Colorado legislature that would have allowed the opening of a safe injection site in Denver was rejected by Republican members on Feb. 14, a decision that represents the often backward and unrealistic expectations when it comes to the issue of drug addiction.

There were 912 overdose deaths in Colorado in 2016. This is a tragic problem that affects our fellow citizens, and the public health concerns are substantial—needles discarded in streets, in parks and in public restrooms have the potential to transmit disease. The bill’s creation of a supervised injection site would have provided a safe place to use (and dispose of) clean needles and also the presence of health workers able to administer naloxone, the anti-overdose medication. These sites do not provide drugs, only resources to make the community safer. The purpose of this bill was to increase public safety and decrease unnecessary, accidental death, not to encourage drug use.

The opposition comes from the fear that such a site would enable and encourage drug users. This is oversimplified thinking. Drug use and addiction takes a painful toll on the lives of fellow Denverites and Americans constantly, and it is unrealistic to expect the problem to be solved all at once. We have to accept the fact that there are people injecting drugs right now, and they will be doing the same thing tomorrow and the next day. Confronting addiction and decreasing drug use is a cause that is absolutely necessary, but ending drug use cannot happen overnight. Supervised injection sites make users, and non-users, safer and healthier on a day-to-day basis, and we can support this safety even as we work toward longer-term solutions.

There are currently zero safe injection sites in the U.S., but Vancouver’s public health department has operated these sites for 15 years. Vancouver Coastal Health has found that these sites do not increase drug use. Though Colorado lawmakers denied Denver such a crucial service, Denver does have the Harm Reduction Action Center, an organization that operates a syringe exchange and is an advocate for addiction recovery efforts. Expanding needle exchange services and outreach to those in need of help will remain essential for Denver in the future.

Safe injection sites do not encourage drug use and they will not make the problem worse. To support these organizations is to acknowledge that drug use is a real problem that is happening at high rates, but that there are steps to make this safer and to keep people alive while we address the overall epidemic. It was a mistake not to pass a bill approving safe injection sites, and Colorado must be more realistic and more compassionate toward this issue in the future.