Supporters of safe injection sites in Philadelphia rallied outside this week's federal hearing. The judge's ultimate ruling will determine if the proposed "Safehouse" facility to prevent deaths from opioid overdose would violate the federal Controlled Substances Act. Kimberly Paynter/WHYY hide caption
Supplies sit on a check-in desk at a model of a hypothetical injection site in San Francisco, pictured here in September 2018. Local leaders from San Francisco are among a dozen local officials urging a federal court to allow an effort to open a supervised injection site in Philadelphia. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption
U.S. Attorney William McSwain and colleagues announced a civil lawsuit Wednesday in Philadelphia against the nonprofit Safehouse. "We have a responsibility to step in," McSwain says, though he adds, "We're not bringing a criminal case right now." Emma Lee/WHYY hide caption
Ed Rendell, former governor of Pennsylvania, has taken a strong stand on supervised injection sites. Andrew Harrer/Getty Images hide caption
A visitor to the Harvard School of Public Health's mock safe injection setup checks out the items on the demonstration table set up underneath a tent on the quad near the medical school in Boston on April 30, 2018. Jessica Rinaldi/Getty Images hide caption
A drug user prepares a hit of heroin inside VANDU's supervised injection room. Rafal Gerszak for NPR hide caption
At safe injection sites like Insite, in Vancouver, Canada, drug users can inject drugs under the watch of trained medical staff who will help in case of overdose. Elana Gordon/WHYY hide caption