Rep. Wood: Times call for overdose prevention centers
January 18, 2024 | By Theresa Wood The beginning of the 2024 legislative session has started with all committees picking up right where they left off last spring. Legislators and onlookers all commented that the first two weeks were the busiest first weeks of a session in many years.
The House Human Services Committee (the committee that I chair), started with reviewing progress on implementing legislation that was signed into law last year – the three big pieces the committee reviewed were the Adult Protective Services statute; landmark child care legislation; and continuing to address opiate and other overdoses. All three pieces of legislation have made significant progress in the implementation phase, as we do our best to be accountable and hold the respective departments accountable.
We started right away following the progress of H.72 – a bill related to overdose prevention – which my committee passed out last spring. The bill was awaiting action in the Appropriations Committee, which they did as one of their first pieces of business. The overdose crisis hits every county in our state, and the data for 2023 is showing that we will again hit a record number of accidental overdoses in our small state. This bill establishes a pilot project to open two overdose prevention centers. These centers are a harm reduction strategy to complement other treatment available through the hub and spoke system, recovery services, and residential treatment.
What is an overdose prevention center? Overdose prevention centers are places where, under supervision, people can use substances that pose an overdose risk. Additionally, overdose prevention centers will:
Provide a space supervised by health care professionals and other trained staff
Supervise the use of substances that the individual has acquired elsewhere (they will NOT be provided by the center)
Provide medical care, including wound care
Provide harm reduction supplies (sterile needles, etc.)
Provide referrals to addiction treatment, medical services and social support services
Provide secure disposal of hypodermic needles
Educate individuals on proper needle disposal
Educate individuals on the risks associated with substance use
Provide education on prevention
Distribute overdose reversal medications
Overdose prevention centers have existed in Europe and Canada for over 30 years. In the U.S., the state of Rhode Island is poised to open its first center this summer, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health is recommending that the legislature there authorize establishment of overdose prevention centers, and New York City has two sites operating already.
The establishment of pilot sites in Vermont will be closely followed and researched, No site can be established without the expressed vote of the municipal government in that town; and importantly, no taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the sites – the pharmaceutical companies will be paying for the pilot through a special fund.
This is a bold step, but if we do nothing, the people who are providing and profiting from these illicit drugs win and more Vermonters die. I would not have voted for such a bill three years ago. But in that time our crisis has grown worse, I’ve listened to hours and hours of testimony, and I’ve decided to not let fear govern my actions because Vermonters who are suffering with opioid addiction, their families, and our state deserve to know that we are doing all we can to save lives so that there is hope for the future.
State Rep. Theresa Wood, a Waterbury Democrat, is one of two representatives in the Washington-Chittenden district representing Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore. She chairs the House Committee on Human Services.
Reach her at twood@leg.state.vt.us.