New York City opens first safe injection sites for illicit drugs in the US

By Jelena Martinovic

On Tuesday, New York City became the first country in the country to open two Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC), where people can use illicit drugs and receive medical care and services.

What are OPCs?

Overdose prevention centers are safe places where people can consume pre-ordered medication in controlled environments under the supervision of trained personnel, with access to sterile consumables, tools to check their care for the presence of fentanyl, and links to health care, counseling, and referrals to health and social services, including drug treatment.

Photo by LeszekCzerwonka / Getty Images

As such, these harm reduction services will play an important role in containing the drug overdose crisis that plagues New York City and the United States.

New York City’s drug overdose deaths rose 36%, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Drug overdose deaths in the US exceed 100,000 annually

CDC preliminary data on overdose showed that there was an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the US during the 12 month period ended April 2021, up 28.5% from the previous year.

While cities like Philadelphia and San Francisco failed to open OPCs due to legal and political challenges, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio revived the long-cherished plan.

“New York City has led the nation’s fight against COVID-19, and the fight for the safety of our community doesn’t stop there,” de Blasio said in a press release.

Located in existing facilities that provide syringe exchange services, OPCs are “a safe and effective way to manage the opioid crisis,” said de Blasio, who has only four weeks left.

Photo by Jon Flobrant via Unsplash

The Drug Policy Alliance has been at the forefront of advocating OPCs as a critical component in containing the overdose crisis since 2015. The first statewide bill for OPCs in New York was tabled in 2018 and approved by Mayor de Blasio, the NYC Council, and the NYC Dept. Health and Mental Hygiene Adopted.

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“Despite the obstacles, we and our coalition kept up the pressure through consistent organization, education and lobbying,” the DPA wrote in an email to Benzinga.

“Studies from other countries have shown that these centers greatly reduce the number of deaths from overdose. Despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of OPCs and more than 120 OPCs operating around the world, the US did not exist due to legal barriers and misguided drug war hysteria.

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While it remains to be seen how the US Department of Justice will address the issue, Secretary of State for Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra recently unveiled the Biden administration’s four-part strategy to deal with the overdose epidemic, which includes allowing regulated consuming sites, reported the Washington Post.

“When it comes to harm reduction, we are looking for all possible ways to do it,” Becerra said earlier. “We will likely support efforts by states that use evidence-based practices and therapies.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.