OVERDOSE CRISIS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
Dr. Willie Wilson
Mayoral Candidate
Expanding Access to Naloxone & Overdose Prevention Education
1. Since August 1996, the Chicago Recovery Alliance (CRA) has been distributing the life-saving
overdose reversal medication naloxone directly to individuals best positioned to respond in the
event of a fatal overdose that is people who use drugs (PWUD) as well as friends, family
members, and providers of PWUD. Under the Illinois Drug Overdose Prevention Program Law
(PA 096-0361, 2010), laypersons are permitted to carry and administer naloxone in the event of
an overdose. In 2018, CRA distributed nearly 100,000 doses of naloxone, trained roughly 3300
people, and received reports of more than 1,000 nonmedical, peer-facilitated overdose
reversals. Despite the numerous lives saved by naloxone, numerous barriers persist in accessing
this life-saving medication in Chicago. Some of these barriers include the prohibitive cost of the
medication, lack of training on how to use it, lack of knowledge around overdose risk, not
knowing how to access it, and simply not knowing that the antidote exists.

How will you support naloxone distribution and overdose education for the City
of Chicago?
A – As we all know, the decision about who may administer any particular drug is regulated by a
number of government agencies. Any change in this permission needs to be carefully
considered by medical professionals and pharmaceutical experts. My personal feelings or
outlook needs to be second to those professional judgements. I will encourage my
Commissioner of Health to do whatever is possible to make these lifesaving drugs available to
the lowest point of use possible.
Expanding Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment
2. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), also known as Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST)
consists of combining medication and behavioral therapy in order to support individuals with
opioid use disorder (OUD) achieve recovery. These evidence-based treatment interventions
include FDA-approved medications such as buprenorphine and methadone. When combined
with behavioral therapy, these medications are associated with a number of positive outcomes
including but not limited to decreased overdose risk, decreased infectious disease transmission,
increased positive birth outcomes for women who are pregnant, decreased use of illicit
substances, and increased employability. A third FDA-approved medication exists that is known
as naltrexone or Vivitrol. Naltrexone is a newer medication and unlike buprenorphine and
methadone functions solely as an opioid antagonist and has yet to demonstrate its efficacy in
preventing opioid related mortality. For this reason, we do not recommend the use of
naltrexone to treat people with OUD. Despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of
methadone and buprenorphine, tremendous obstacles stand in the way of people accessing
these interventions, not the least of which is stigma and misconceptions about MAT.

 How will you support expanded access to MAT?
A – Again, medical professionals will need to submit their expert recommendations regarding
the proper administration of drugs that are used to combat drug addiction. I support the
highest and best treatment for our citizens and I know that those standards will change over
time. We can commit to choosing the best medical professionals in the country and directing
them to ensure we have top notch treatment to reduce healthcare costs and save lives.
Legalizing Syringe Services Programs
3. Syringe services programs or SSPs (also known as needle/syringe exchange programs or
N/SEPs) provide community-level access to sterile syringes as well as safe disposal services for
used equipment. SSPs are cost-effective, public health interventions that prevent the spread of
infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and reduce the presence of bacterial and other
infections often related to injection drug use. These interventions also function as drop-in
centers where PWUD can go to get support for other critical needs such as substance use and
mental health treatment referrals, housing resources, and STI and hepatitis screening and
linkage to care. Despite all the evidence supporting these programs, SSPs remain illegal in the
state of Illinois and therefore can only operate via research exemption, thus greatly impeding
the full-scale impact of these programs.

How will you support the legalization of sterile syringe access for Chicago as
well as statewide? How will you ensure that the City of Chicago continues to
publicly fund sterile syringes for distribution?
A – Promoting good health is a process, not a single decision. Accepting that IV drug users are
going to re-use needles until and if they have another option, is the first reality check. One
realistic option is to work collaboratively with a professional program that will help in the
streamline and efficiency of this issue. It makes sense to me that we help residents that are in
need of this type of medical equipment to stay healthy, first, and avoid the diseases that can
come from re-using disposable supplies. To enforce this concept while they commit themselves
to the work of recovery from their addiction, supplying clean needles and syringes can lead to
saving lives and showing much needed compassion towards this population and its challenges.
Supporting Overdose Prevention Centers
4. An overdose prevention center or OPC (also referred to as safer consumption sites or drug
consumption rooms) is a protected location where PWUD can consume their drugs safely under
the supervision of trained personnel. OPCs are evidence-based interventions used to reduce
drug overdoses as well as other drug-related harms. These interventions exist in a variety of
models such as fixed site, mobile, and temporary pop-up units and have been in operation for
over 30 years around the world. More than 100 such sites exist worldwide, and all research
indicates significant benefits. They are associated with a decrease in overdose, public drug use,
incarceration, drug litter, HIV and Hepatitis C transmission, increased drug treatment
admission, and no increase in drug use. While no such program has ever legally existed in the
United States, several U.S. cities have declared their support for this intervention and others
have secured municipal approval to proceed with opening OPCs in their cities. OPCs have been

 endorsed by a number of professional bodies including the American Public Health Association,
the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, The International Narcotics Control Board, the
American Medical Association (AMA), the International Drug Policy Consortium, and the
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Due to federal drug laws, such sites would ideally be placed on city property.
What will you do to support the creation of a publicly-funded pilot OPC in the
City of Chicago?
A – This question combines all of my answers above plus the issue of legal liability. The law
department of the city would need to be certain we are protecting our citizens and not
exposing them to lawsuits that could cause taxpayers to become responsible for others’ poor
decisions. As I said above, I am open to the concept but the implementation will require
professional medical involvement of many experts with the focus of always saving lives.
Decriminalization
5. We advocate for the decriminalization of all drug use and possession. The War on Drugs has
failed to address drug-related harms while having a disproportionate impact on incarceration
rates in Black and Latino communities. To that end, we support the elimination of legal
penalties for drug-related infractions. A study by the World Health Organization found that
countries such as the U.S. that uphold punitive drug laws did not achieve lower levels of drug
use amongst their populations when compared to countries with less criminally punitive laws.
Several countries and some U.S. municipalities have or are beginning to support a variety of
decriminalization measures that recognize substance use as a public health matter rather than
a law enforcement one. In 2001, for instance, Portugal simultaneously decriminalized drug use
and possession via a reclassification of penalties, while also increasing access to harm reduction
and treatment services. This combination of criminal justice reforms coupled with aggressive
public health investments reduced drug-related mortality, problematic substance use and
arrests, rates of infectious diseases, and also increased drug treatment participation.

What will you do to support decriminalization of all drug consumption and
possession city-wide, particularly in communities hardest hit by the War on
Drugs? Furthermore, how will you ensure Black and Latino-led organizations are
included in all decision making?
A – Here again, I am not personally qualified to decide which drugs are dangerous and which
ones are not. Taking one at a time, professionals will study each one and provide their expert
opinion/recommendation for a position for decriminalization, like in the case of marijuana. I
support the notion that enforcement of drug laws disproportionately hurts our minority
communities and should be eliminated for that reason alone. But the reality is that some of
these drugs need study by medical professionals before we make such an important decision
with increasing safety as our primary focus.

 Drug-Induced Homicide
6. Drug-induced homicide laws have been used to criminalize anyone who uses, shares, and/or
sells drugs. These laws are often applied when an individual calls 911 for assistance in the event
that someone they are with experiences a fatal overdose after using illicit substances. This
often results in an arrest of the individual who responds to the life-threatening emergency
simply because they had shared drugs with or sold drugs to the individual who overdosed and
died. Drug-induced homicide laws only weaken 911 Good Samaritan laws designed to prevent
overdose fatalities and persist despite any evidence that they actually reduce drug use or sales.
Unfortunately, these laws result in further disengaging PWUD from emergency medical services
in the event of an overdose, further exacerbating the risk of death.

In what ways will you support the elimination of drug-induced homicide laws?
A – This is a very important discussion and debate that has barely just begun. I believe we need
to bring this issue to the table of medical professionals, community health experts and other
applicable specialists and authorities to have a candid exchange of data and information to
frame a comprehensive strategy that can be presented as best practices for the recovery and
betterment of our citizens with these particular challenges. With this at the forefront, more
lives can be saved.