For years, Burlington leaders have welcomed the prospect of supervised drug consumption — performed in facilities called “safe injection” or “overdose prevention” sites — as a proposal that could save lives amid the state’s crippling opioid epidemic.
With broad support at the local level, elected officials have blamed other figures for blocking their efforts to launch such a site. Since 2018, they have lamented warnings from federal and state officials, who question the benefits of such facilities and say they would violate drug laws.
Now, after Republican Gov. Phil Scott axed a proposal that would have studied the sites statewide, the Burlington City Council is once more prodding higher-ups to move out of the way and let the city sponsor a site.
If the 12-member body approves a resolution on its agenda for Monday, the council would send “a strong and unequivocal message to State leaders that the time for action is now,” and “that waiting longer will only cost lives,” the resolution states.
To help raise awareness about the prevalence of overdoses in Burlington and Vermont, the resolution would call on Scott and Democratic Mayor Miro Weinberger to recognize Aug. 31 as “International Overdose Awareness Day,” and the month of September as “Recovery Month.”
The resolution — which is sponsored by two-thirds of the council — would also instruct Weinberger’s administration to begin working with “partners” to explore how the city could fund a site.
Following a 2020 City Council resolution, city officials discussed the issue with the Howard Center, a mental health nonprofit that operates opioid treatment programs such as a needle exchange.
Grace Keller, the director of those programs (called “Safe Recovery”), did not respond to emails and phone calls.
The resolution, which is being brought forward by five Progressives and three Democrats, is likely to win broad support from the council. But it faces steep opposition from other levels of government.
In response to an inquiry from VTDigger, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont’s office declined to comment on the legality of the sites, but said that the Department of Justice is “evaluating supervised consumption sites” across the country.
On a national level, the Department of Justice is in “discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety,” Fabienne Boisvert-DeFazio, the office’s spokesperson, said in an email. Nikolas Kerest, U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont, said those conversations are not currently taking place in Vermont.
At the state level, Scott is still a “no” on the sites, according to his spokesperson, Jason Maulucci.
“This issue has been reviewed by the Health Department and the Opioid Coordination Council before it, and they have determined it is not the right approach for Vermont,” Maulucci said in an email.
It also remains unclear whether Burlington residents would mirror their elected representatives’ sentiments on the sites.
The city’s effort to house people experiencing homelessness in 30 “pods” on an Old North End parking lot could hint at potential challenges ahead. That proposal cleared the council in an 11-1 vote, but was nearly tanked by the Development Review Board over concerns that city officials had not yet secured an organization to manage the site.
Neighbors and business owners have also blasted the pods proposal, saying it would bring an increase in crime and drug trafficking to the densely populated area near Church Street, Burlington’s commercial hub.
The review board ended up approving the project last month, on the condition that officials sign a management contract before they start construction. But as of Friday, no organization had agreed to do the work, according to Brian Pine, the city’s development chief.
A location downtown or in the Old North End would be ideal, said City Councilor Joe Magee, P-Ward 3, because overdoses have been concentrated in those parts of the city.
“For this to be successful, this has to be placed in close proximity to where people would use it,” Magee, one of the resolution’s sponsors, told VTDigger. “It comes down to where this site would have the most impact, where it would help the most people.”
The Howard Center currently operates opioid treatment programs, including a needle exchange, at 45 Clarke Street, one block over from where the city plans to construct the pods.
Magee and the resolution’s authors also see another key to their effort being successful: communication with skeptical residents.
The resolution requests a “community engagement plan” that would, in the words of the document, give people “the opportunity to learn the facts about these sites, understanding their benefits to our neighbors and our community.”
Magee said this effort would particularly involve sharing research with residents about how these programs have fared elsewhere in the world (New York City became home to the nation’s first facilities last year), and — as overdoses continue to kill a record number of Vermonters — emphasizing the program’s focus on saving lives.
“What has become clear over the past two years is that we’re not doing enough to prevent overdoses,” Magee said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated information about the Department of Justice’s discussions with state and local regulators.