US backs Study Of Safe Injection Sites, Overdose Prevention

For the first time, the federal government will fund comprehensive research to determine whether so-called safe injection facilities, where people can use heroin and other illegal substances and be revived if they take too much, will prevent overdoses.

The funding grants more than $5 million over four years to New York University and Brown University to examine two sites in New York City and one in Providence, Rhode Island, which will open next year.

Researchers plan to enlist 1,000 adult drug users to examine the sites’ effects on overdoses, estimate expenditures, and assess possible savings for the healthcare and criminal justice systems.

The universities revealed the grant on Monday. According to the universities, the funds will not be utilized to run the sites.

With opioid overdose deaths in the United States expected to reach over 107,000 by 2021, supporters argue that safe injection sites, also known as overdose prevention centers, can save lives and connect people to addiction treatment, mental health services, and medical care.

Opponents are concerned that the sites would increase drug use and deteriorate the nearby neighborhoods.

The governors of California and Vermont vetoed safe injection site legislation.

“There is a lot of discussion about overdose prevention centers, but ultimately, we need data to see if they are working or not and what impact they may have on the community,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which awarded the grant, said.

According to the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for decriminalization and safe drug use legislation, sites are operational in 14 countries, including Canada, Australia, and France.

In the United States, New York City will open the first publicly recognized safe injection site in 2021, and Rhode Island will be the first state to do so that year.

Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico have all proposed legalizing them. Last year, the governors of California and Vermont vetoed safe injection site legislation, and the Pennsylvania Senate voted last week to prohibit them.

The award is yet another step by the Biden administration towards harm reduction, which focuses on reducing death and sickness in drug users while assisting them in getting therapy rather than punishment.

The White House’s drug-control plan is the first to emphasize harm reduction, and the Justice Department has indicated that safe injection sites will be permitted.

The National Institutes of Health launched a harm reduction research network in December to examine programs that provide services and supplies like as naloxone, a medicine that can reverse overdoses, and tools to test substances for fentanyl, a strong opioid that is responsible for a record number of overdoses. The new study will be included in that initiative.

SOURCE – (AP)