Sen. Mark Miloscia has sent a formal request to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, asking that he and the federal Department of Justice take steps to prevent the creation of heroin-injection sites in King County.

Feb. 17, the Senate State Government Committee, of which Miloscia is chair, passed Senate Bill 5223, his legislation that would require county health authorities to certify to the state that no heroin-injection sites operate within their jurisdictions. The state would withhold all funding to King County until the health authority provided such certification.

“The heroin epidemic in King County is a public-health crisis,” Miloscia, R-Federal Way, said. “We must focus our resources on treatment beds and medically proven treatments.”

On Jan. 27 King County and the city of Seattle announced their intentions to move forward with plans to build two heroin-injection sites. One site would operate within the city limits of Seattle; the other would be at a King County location to be determined later.

A similar site has been in operation in Vancouver, B.C. since 2003. In that time overdose deaths caused by illegal drugs have increased nearly 80 percent. British Columbia experienced 914 such deaths in 2016, making it the deadliest overdose year on record.

The letter from Miloscia to Sessions reads in part: “Creation of drug injection sites is part of a broader effort to decriminalize and normalize illegal drug use. I request your immediate intervention into the unconscionable actions of King County, Washington.”