This commentary is by Sarah George, elected state’s attorney in Chittenden County; Eric Gonzalez, elected district attorney in Brooklyn; and Miriam Aroni Krinsky, executive director of the Fair and Just Prosecution organization.
Overdose deaths in the United States have risen nearly 540% since 1999, a heartbreaking public health crisis that continues unabated.
We urgently need compassionate policies that meet the moment we’re in and prevent additional loss of life, and we’re seeing such leadership in Vermont, where in January, the House passed a bill, H.72, to authorize and fund two overdose prevention centers. Now, the Vermont Senate has the chance to embrace this lifesaving legislation and move it closer to enactment.
These facilities offer a remarkably effective harm reduction strategy by providing a secure environment for individuals to consume pre-obtained drugs, staffed by trained professionals who can promptly respond to signs of overdose and help facilitate access to treatment and services. There is growing support for these centers around the country and the globe — and irrefutable proof of their lifesaving impact.
In Vermont, fatal overdoses have increased by more than 500% since 2010. The leaders working to open overdose prevention centers recognize that doubling down on failed punitive policies won’t address the current crisis.
While it may seem counterintuitive for law enforcement professionals like us — the Chittenden County state’s attorney, Brooklyn district attorney and a former federal narcotics strike force prosecutor — to support such centers, we’ve witnessed the anguish of parents who’ve lost children to overdoses. They would have done anything to keep their loved ones alive.
Like the millions of families nationwide affected by this epidemic, we firmly believe that saving lives and promoting care should take precedence over prosecuting and incarcerating drug users. These strategies align with public safety and public health objectives and have earned strong support in our communities.
Overdose prevention centers have an impeccable safety record over decades of operation, with nearly 200 locations across at least 14 countries. Immediate interventions like providing supplemental oxygen or naloxone can prevent an overdose from turning fatal, and these centers play a critical role by intervening at the onset of an overdose, a level of care that does not exist outside these facilities, where emergency response may arrive too late.
In New York City, OnPoint NYC, a nonprofit organization, has successfully integrated overdose prevention centers into its model of care. Their centers have served individuals more than 117,000 times since opening in late 2021, providing lifesaving interventions in more than 1,300 overdoses that otherwise may well have resulted in tragedy. Emergency medical services were rarely required, responding just 23 times out of 48,533 visits in the first year, freeing essential resources to respond to other emergencies more quickly. These remarkable statistics underscore an undeniable efficacy in preventing loss of life.
The centers also offer broader community benefits, decreasing drug use and overdoses in public and reducing the presence of discarded syringes, enhancing overall safety in the surrounding areas. NYC Parks reported collecting around 13,000 syringes per month from a park across from OnPoint’s Washington Heights location. In the month following the opening of the overdose prevention center, syringe collection dropped to 1,000.
These New York centers were established with the support of local authorities, including mayors and district attorneys, who now collaborate with police precincts to guide drug users toward care rather than arrest. A recent study found that the opening of the sites did not cause increases in crime or 911 calls in the surrounding neighborhoods. Beyond just preventing overdoses, these sites also function as a holistic care model that includes medical and mental health services, case management, food, showers, laundry, treatment and recovery support, peer mentorship, drug testing, and safer drug use supplies.
State and local officials across the country should see OnPoint’s success as a positive sign of the benefits of overdose prevention centers. In addition to Vermont, states like Rhode Island and Minnesota are also taking steps to open new centers.
Unfortunately, hurdles remain. Last year in Philadelphia — which saw a record number of fatal overdoses in 2022 — the City Council essentially banned overdose prevention centers in most of the city. And the current Department of Justice has yet to resolve litigation from the Trump administration against a nonprofit trying to open a center in Philadelphia.
Without federal leadership on this issue, cities and states must lead the way. Punishment alone will not solve the overdose crisis. We need to change the trajectory, and Vermont can show the rest of the nation that overdose prevention centers are a proven and essential tool in our comprehensive efforts to end this epidemic.
