Maryland bill to create safe opioid injection sites if passed

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland lawmakers will consider once again a proposal to create safe drug consumption sites for opioid users, something no other U.S. state has.

The Daily Record of Baltimore reports the pilot program would authorize safe injection sites where people could use opioids near trained staffers who help if there's an overdose.

There were 1,648 opioid-related deaths in Maryland through the first nine months of 2018, an increase of nearly 10 percent from 2017.

Sen. Brian Feldman introduced the legislation last year and again last week before the Senate Finance Committee. Last year, the committee passed the bill, then reconsidered and rejected it.

Sen. Kathy Klausmeier says legislators need to amplify the good the legislation could do because she still hears from constituents who accuse her of selling drugs based on last year's bill.