Boston clinic to host a mock supervised injection site

With growing debate over the idea of supervised injection sites — where people can use illegal drugs under the watch of medical staff — a clinic in Boston is giving the public an inside look. A primary care center associated with Massachusetts General Hospital is hosting a mock injection site this week to help neighbors better understand the practice. “We’re demystifying it,” Dr. Mark Eisenberg, a primary care physician overseeing the event, tells me. “We want to show people that it’s a safer alternative than what may be happening elsewhere.” The site will have a sample booth with medical supplies and personnel to walk through the steps; no one will be injecting drugs. It’s the third year that Eisenberg, who has lost two dozen patients to opioid overdoses, has helped host such events in the state. There are plans in Philadelphia and other cities to open such sites, but none have yet been approved as they face federal opposition.