The American Medical Association (AMA), in a section that was largely overlooked, urged local and state governments to allow overdose prevention centers (OSPs) as a strategy for public health.
The report states that “at this stage in the epidemic of overdose deaths, the AMA encourages communities and states to consider all evidence based approaches to help prevent overdose deaths and connect individuals to health treatment and care.” The data show that OSPs reduce risky drug-use behaviors, overdoses and deaths while improving public health and access to healthcare.
The message comes at a time when the Biden administration is continuing to fight against opening the sites where people can use drug in a supervised environment. The Justice Department has blocked a proposed Philadelphia overdose-prevention site even though some in New York are already operating with the approval of local officials. Some jurisdictions have been discouraged from opening similar centers because of the opposition.
In its report, AMA stated that studies have shown the sites to “save life.” “Whether in Canada or Europe, or at the New York City sites, thousands of overdose reversals occurred, while no fatalities have been reported at the sites.”
The AMA also stated that the facilities “increased access to health care services”, with over half (52.5%) of participants receiving “services including naloxone, counseling, hepatitis C screening, medical services and holistic services”.
The report states that nearly 3 out of 4 people who use the centers do so to avoid eating in a semi-public or public location.
A separate AMA study published in November found that New York centres have not increased crime despite a significant reduction in arrests. The study found that while opponents had claimed that the establishment of harm reduction centers will drive crime, “initial data in NYC does not support these fears.”
A study published in 2022 by JAMA found that over the two-month period in the first year after implementation, the trained staff of New York City’s overdose prevention center intervened 125 times to mitigate the overdose risk. They administered naloxone, oxygen, and provided other services in order to prevent the death of a person.
In August, however, a federal prosecutor with jurisdiction in Manhattan told The New York Times that the sites were illegal and that “he was prepared to use all of his options – including enforcement – if this situation did not change quickly.”
The Supreme Court refused to hear a case in 2021 on the legality for establishing these facilities. The Justice Department announced the following year that it was evaluating potential “guardrails” for safe consumption sites.
Researchers in Congress highlighted “uncertainty”, of the federal government’s position regarding safe drug consumption sites. They also pointed out that legislators could temporarily solve the issue by passing an amendment similar to the one which allowed medical marijuana laws be implemented without Justice Department intervention.
Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has implicitly endorsed the idea to authorize safe consumption sites . She argues that evidence has shown that these facilities are effective in preventing overdose deaths.
Volkow refused to specify what she thinks should be done with the lawsuit. However, she did say that research on safe consumption sites “has shown that they have saved a significant (percentage) of patients from overdosing.”
Rahul Gupta is the White House Drug Czar. He has stated that the Biden administration is reviewing proposals for harm reduction in drug policy . This includes the authorization of supervised sites.
In December 2021, the National Institutes of Health issued two requests for applications to examine how harm reduction policies and safe consumption sites could be used to address the drug epidemic.
Gupta is the director of White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has stated that it’s important to explore “any option” in order to reduce the number of overdose deaths. This may include allowing the use of illegal substances at safe consumption sites if there are sufficient evidence to support their effectiveness.
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