PROVIDENCE – After Gov. Daniel J. McKee signed legislation authorizing the establishment of a two-year pilot program in early July 2021, making Rhode Island the first state in the U.S. to authorize “harm reduction centers,” the R.I. Department of Health is now seeking applicants to establish safe injection sites where people struggling from drug addiction can take illicit drugs under the supervision of medical professionals.
RIDOH has been accepting applications for the program since mid-February after regulations were published by the state, according to the department.
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“Harm reduction centers will be an important part of Rhode Island’s response to the drug overdose crisis,” said Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for RIDOH. “They will help connect people to essential treatment and recovery support services, for example, housing and employment. These community-based resources will also allow people to safely consume pre-obtained controlled substances in a supportive environment, where medical professionals are on site.”
Organizations that are interested in opening a harm reduction center in Rhode Island must submit an application and provide proof of municipal approval from a city or town council, or an equivalent governing body where the center is to be located, Wendelken said.
They must also receive a site inspection by a RIDOH representative and obtain an approval of compliance, Wendelken said. The site inspections are meant to ensure all services and practices comply with Rhode Island’s regulations for harm reduction centers, Wendelken said. The centers must abide by the state’s Life Safety Code, and they must pass a fire safety inspection report from the State Fire Marshal or a designee, he said.
The pilot program will be used to determine if Rhode Island moves forward with the safe injection sites on a permanent basis.
“Keep in mind that this is a pilot program,” Wendelken said. “The pilot program will be evaluated to help us understand the full public health and community impact of harm reduction centers in our state.”
More information on the pilot program and how organizations in Rhode Island can participate can be found online at www.health.ri.gov/addiction/about/harmreductioncenters.
“Having a place where someone can save them from an overdose, and where there are people offering them the resources they need for treatment, is a much better alternative to people dying alone in their homes or their cars,” said State Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, who sponsored the bill authorizing the sites, in a statement issued following a ceremonial bill signing held in September. “Especially as overdose deaths have climbed during the pandemic and fentanyl-laced drugs continue to pose a lethal threat to unwitting users, we could prevent needless death and turn lives around with a program like this.”
While safe injection sites are still technically illegal under federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice recently signaled that it may be open to allowing them, telling The Associated Press that it is “evaluating” such facilities and talking to regulators about “appropriate guardrails.”
While Rhode Island was the first state to authorize safe injection sites, New York City did so in November last year, and soon after two such facilities opened there, which the city calls “overdose prevention centers.” Such sites exist in Canada, Australia and Europe and have been discussed for years in New York and some other U.S. cities and states. A few unofficial facilities have operated for some time.
(Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.)
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
