Officials in Seattle on Friday approved the nation's first "safe-injection" sites for users of heroin and other illegal drugs, calling the move a drastic but necessary response to an epidemic of addiction that is claiming tens of thousands of lives each year.
The sites – which offer addicts clean needles, medical supervision and quick access to drugs that reverse the effects of an overdose – have long been popular in Europe. Now, with the U.S. death toll rising, the idea is gaining...