Jerry Brown rejects safe injection site plan for San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- California Gov. Jerry Brown has rejected legislation that would have allowed San Francisco to open what could be the nation's first supervised drug injection sites under a pilot program.

Brown issued a veto Sunday, saying "enabling illegal and destructive drug use will never work."


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VIDEO: Here's what a safe injection site could look like in SF


San Francisco could still choose to open such a site but it would be in violation of federal and state law.

Advocates of "safe injection" sites say the supervised locations prevent drug overdoses and provide access to counseling.


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RELATED: Safe injection sites remain hot debate in San Francisco

The U.S. government and other critics say taxpayers shouldn't be enabling users.



San Francisco Mayor London Breed has vowed to open a supervised injection site in the city, where public drug use is a major problem. She vowed to continue to work toward a solution and move the effort forward.


There are safe injection sites in other countries, but none in the United States.