{"id":18704,"date":"2025-02-02T19:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T18:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=18704"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:08:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:08:17","slug":"18704","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/02\/18704\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the country\u2019s first official safe drug consumption site"},"content":{"rendered":"
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INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY NDPA:<\/span><\/h1>\n

THIS ARTICLE IS INCLUDED FOR ITS INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSUMPTION ROOM PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE. NDPA HAS SEVERAL SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT SO-CALLED ‘CONSUMPTION ROOMS’ AND WOULD TAKE ISSUE WITH SOME OF THE CLAIMS MADE IN THIS ARTICLE, NOT LEAST THE HEADLINE CLAIM THAT THIS IS A ‘SAFE’ SITE … (SEE OTHER ARTICLES ON THE NDPA SITE), NEVERTHELESS, IT IS WORTH READING, IN ORDER TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE ATTITUDE BEHIND THE PROVENANCE OF SUCH FACILITIES.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

by\u00a0 Rebecca. L. Root – December 24, 2024 – SOURCE PRISM<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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At 8 a.m. on a Monday morning, most of the soft recliners in the waiting area of the three-story East Harlem overdose prevention center (OPC) are already occupied by those who have come to consume their first dose of the day. Whether it\u2019s for fentanyl, heroin, or another drug, people of all ages trickle into the consumption room at OnPoint NYC, where mirrored cubicles line opposite sides of the room and a staff station sits in the middle with trays of needles, elastics, and wipes organized in rows.<\/p>\n

A man, who looks to be in his late 30s, unwraps today\u2019s first fix of what most likely is the opioid fentanyl, which staff say is the most common drug used here. He simultaneously chats with the staff who welcome each visitor with familiarity. The calm ambiance is occasionally punctuated with noise as the metal doors swing, allowing another person to enter.<\/p>\n

OnPoint NYC, which opened in 2021 as the country\u2019s first overdose prevention site, aims to be a judgment- and persecution-free space for drug users to safely consume. The idea of preventing people from dying of an overdose is a controversial one. Last year, former U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York Damian Williams\u00a0told\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>\u00a0that OnPoint\u2019s methods were illegal and hinted at a shutdown, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is also opposed, having repeatedly\u00a0said\u00a0the centers violate federal and state laws, putting their future operations in the balance.<\/p>\n

But amid the national opioid epidemic, drastic measures are needed. More than\u00a0100,000\u00a0people die each year from drug overdoses in the U.S., according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In November, President-elect Donald Trump\u00a0announced\u00a0plans to impose further tariffs on Chinese imports in an attempt to curb what he believes are fentanyl deliveries into the U.S. It follows\u00a0calls<\/a>\u00a0in 2022 from President Joe Biden to increase funding in the budget to address the overdose epidemic, while in 2023\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0editors\u00a0declared\u00a0that the U.S. had lost the war on drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 90 minutes\u2026four New Yorkers die [of an overdose],\u201d said Sam Rivera, the executive director of OnPoint NYC.<\/p>\n

Advocates for OPCs say having a sanitary and safe place to consume drugs diminishes the element of haste or need for discretion that might exist in a public place. This reduces the risk of an overdose, but should one occur, medically trained staff dressed in jeans and leather are ready to respond.<\/p>\n

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Tilting a chair back, a staffer explains the importance of getting the blood circulating and offering rescue breaths before administering naloxone, which can reverse the effects of opioids. Since 2021, OnPoint NYC has reversed 1,600 overdoses, cleaned up community parks, and opened a sister center in Washington Heights.<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Despite the progress, the center, and the few others like it in the U.S., remain controversial. When a similar center was opened in San Francisco in 2022, a group of local mothers\u00a0protested\u00a0while others\u00a0posited\u00a0that creating safe spaces to consume drugs only increases drug use.<\/p>\n

However, research\u00a0found\u00a0that following the opening of an OPC in San Francisco, there was no visible increase in drug use, and a\u00a0Brown University study\u00a0found no affiliation between the centers and increased crime.<\/p>\n

Instead, Michel Kazatchkine, a commissioner of the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), which advocates for drug policies to be more humane and prioritize public and individual health, believes it is the current approach of\u00a0criminalizing drug users\u00a0that is the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0criminal justice approach\u00a0has sent hundreds of thousands of people to prison with no benefit for these people and\u00a0no benefit for the society\u00a0and huge expenses involved,\u201d said Kazatchkine, who is also the former executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, France.<\/p>\n

Over\u00a01.16 million people\u00a0each year are incarcerated in the U.S. on drug offenses, while globally, governments spend $100 billion annually on punitive drug policies. In spite of such policies, global drug use has risen from about 180 million people in 2002 to 292 million in 2022, according to a\u00a0report by the GCDP.<\/p>\n

In states like New York, the response to tackle the drug problem has predominantly been to fund the distribution of naloxone and fentanyl test strips, which can detect the presence of fentanyl in other drugs, explained Toni Smith, the New York state director at Drug Policy Alliance. The group works with grassroots groups to advance public health solutions to drug use. While such resources are critical, Smith emphasized that the state must offer a full range of life-saving tools and services. More OPCs, Smith believes, could save more lives.<\/p>\n

The harm reduction quandary<\/h2>\n

Historically, the U.S. has pushed back on any initiatives under the harm reduction umbrella, Kazatchkine said. Harm reduction, according to the\u00a0World Health Organization\u00a0(WHO), focuses on offering a suite of interventions designed to minimize the negative impacts related to drug use. That could include providing people with clean needles and syringes, with naloxone, with HIV testing, or with access to opioid substitution therapy programs. OPCs\u2014often referred to as safe consumption sites in Europe, where they are\u00a0widely used\u2014are not on the WHO\u2019s\u00a0list\u00a0of recommended harm reduction interventions but are a harm reduction approach.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe concept of harm reduction is acknowledging that people use drugs and that these people have risks, but it is prioritizing health approaches over criminalization,\u201d Kazatchkine said. \u201cAcknowledging that people use drugs, you acknowledge something that is prohibited under the law and actually under criminal law, so a government or an international entity finds itself in a very uncomfortable situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people would come in and be shocked\u2026They open the door and think everybody\u2019s just using drugs. They don\u2019t expect this kind of structure and loving environment,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve invited the governor for three years. [She] hasn\u2019t been here once. But you\u2019re going to sit around and tell us the program doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond a safe space for consumption<\/h2>\n

More than just a consumption space, the center offers a health clinic and, up a narrow staircase to a second floor, therapy rooms host complimentary holistic treatments such as reiki, massage, and sound baths. Rivera himself occasionally hosts one. All services, including health care, are free.<\/p>\n

On this day, a woman sleeps deeply in a reclining chair as soft music tinkles in the background and candles burn in the corner; two others lie on massage tables awaiting their treatments. Shower facilities are available in another corner of the center, and an on-site psychologist offers mental health services in a bid to help tackle the underlying trauma behind the addiction. It\u2019s \u201cmultidimensional\u201d support to treat a problem that surpasses simply addiction but intersects with issues around housing, access to care, criminalization, food and nutrition, sleep, as well as structural racism, Smith said. And the services aren\u2019t just for drug users but all local community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreating this community and this space around a loving environment is so impactful, and it changes the experience for folks who come in,\u201d Rivera said.<\/p>\n

In New York City, Rivera believes there have also been economic benefits. OnPoint\u2019s data suggests a reduction in visits to the emergency room for overdoses that has relieved the burden on the health system and, Rivera said, potentially saved two New York City neighborhoods $45 million in less than three years.<\/p>\n

More OPCs could benefit the U.S. and reduce the impact the drug crisis is having, said Kazatchkine, but amid what Rivera believes is a game of politics, whether that will happen remains to be seen. In the meantime, elsewhere in the U.S., people will shoot up in alleyways and parks, at increased risk of unnecessarily overdosing. But the reality, Rivera said, is that with OPCs, there\u2019s the potential for no one to have to die this way again.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.nationofchange.org\/2024\/12\/24\/inside-the-countrys-first-official-safe-drug-consumption-site\/<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

INTRODUCTORY NOTE BY NDPA: THIS ARTICLE IS INCLUDED FOR ITS INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSUMPTION ROOM PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE. NDPA HAS SEVERAL SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT SO-CALLED ‘CONSUMPTION ROOMS’ AND WOULD TAKE ISSUE WITH SOME OF THE CLAIMS MADE IN THIS ARTICLE, NOT LEAST THE HEADLINE CLAIM THAT THIS IS A ‘SAFE’ SITE … (SEE OTHER […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,129,68,82,62,34,37,120,67,135,119,40,36,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-violence-prison","category-culture","category-drug-use-various-effects","category-economic","category-education","category-heroin-methadone","category-hiv-injecting-drug-users","category-mental-health","category-needle-exchange","category-opioids","category-prevalence","category-prevention-research","category-treatment-addiction","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}