NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Between January and March of this year, 596 New Yorkers died from a drug overdose. In hopes of combatting this crisis, earlier this month the country’s first “legally sanctioned” safe injection site opened in Harlem. However, the community’s response has been anything but positive.
On this week’s episode of 1010 WINS In Depth Podcast, host Femi Redwood aims to examine the effectiveness of these sites.
According to one of this week’s guests, Executive President of the Harlem Association Regina Smith, 75% of the people who have checked into Harlem’s site don’t even live in the area. Being that the community doesn’t seem to have an overwhelming demand for it, why was it built there in the first place?
In addition to Smith, Redwood speaks to other local residents and community leaders to find out whether placing a designated location for addicts to go in a prominent urban neighborhood is an example of systematic racism.