Lawmakers In Three States Advance Bills To Legalize Safe Drug Consumption Sites

Lawmakers in Colorado, New Mexico and New York have approved bills to authorize safe consumption sites where people can use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised setting and receive substance misuse treatment resources.

As policymakers across the country grapple with an overdose crisis, three more states are seeking to prioritize harm reduction, with legislation to establish safe consumption facilities advancing out of the Colorado House, New York Assembly Health Committee and two panels of the New Mexico House. The latter bills now head to the floor of their respective chambers for consideration, while Colorado’s measure goes to the Senate.

Colorado

Earlier this month, the Colorado House approved a bill from Rep. Elisabeth Epps (D) that would permit cities throughout the state to authorize the establishment of overdose prevention centers.

The “Local Control of Life-saving Overdose Prevention Centers Act” would provide people with access to sterile consumption equipment, fentanyl testing tools, counseling, substance use treatment referrals and “other harm reduction services,” the bill text says.

It was amended to make it so municipalities would have to hold a public hearing before permitting the establishment of the safe consumption sites. It then passed the full House in a 43-21 vote last week.

“Preventable drug overdoses are a public health crisis that impact every Colorado community and are a matter of both local and state concern,” the measure’s findings section says. “For far too long, Colorado has disproportionately favored a criminal justice approach to substance use disorders instead of prioritizing public health.”

“Overdose prevention centers are proven to save lives and increase community safety,” it continues. “OPCs lead to decreased rates of communicable disease transmission, severely decrease in-public drug consumption, greatly reduce public litter of drug consumption equipment, and, in their surrounding neighborhoods, are associated with reduced crime.”

New Mexico

A bill from Rep. Tara Lujan (D) would establish an overdose prevention program under New Mexico’s existing harm reduction program, expanding the services to allow people to access safe consumption facilities.

The House Health & Human Services Committee passed the legislation last month, and it cleared the Judiciary Committee earlier this month, with a minor amendment on data collection.

“The overdose prevention program shall provide participants with a safe and hygienic space to administer and consume previously obtained controlled substances under the supervision of personnel trained in overdose reversal,” the bill text says.

“Controlled substances shall not be sold, purchased, traded or otherwise provided to harm reduction or overdose prevention program participants, except as otherwise allowed by law,” it clarifies.

While the state Department of Health would need to collect data intended to help in “planning and evaluating efforts to combat overdose mortality and other negative health outcomes associated with drug use,” the legislation prohibits officials from collecting personal information of participants such as their full name, address or date of birth.

That provision was amended in the Judiciary Committee to create an exception where personal information could be compiled “as required by law for testing, treatment of infectious disease or other medical treatment.”

New York

In New York, the bill from Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D) passed through committee on Tuesday. It would require the state Department of Health to authorize at least one overdose prevention center that provides a sterile environment for people to use pre-obtained substances, with medical personnel on site to prevent overdose deaths and make referrals to treatment.

The facilities would need to also maintain syringe exchange services, educate clients on safe consumption practices, provide naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses and collect aggregate data on participants and their experiences. Staff and participants would be given immunity from prosecution for the sanctioned activities.

Our statement from our Users Union Leaders here: https://t.co/AzFRM2SKWK

"Our state needs leadership over politics to truly turn the tide in this heartbreaking crisis. Today, the Assembly Health Committee displayed that leadership by passing the #SCSA." pic.twitter.com/yxxmvaXvOT

— VOCAL-NY (@VOCALNewYork) March 21, 2023

“We have a moral obligation to use every tool in our toolbox to address the opioid overdose crisis plaguing our family, friends and neighbors across the state,” Rosenthal, whose earlier version of the legislation moved through the same committee last session, said in a press release. “For decades, far too many New Yorkers struggling with addiction were cruelly left to languish behind bars instead of receiving the care they required and deserved.”

“Authorizing [overdose prevention centers] would send a clear message to the entire country: New York State is using medically and scientifically proven harm reduction methods to save lives and connect people to services,” she said.

New York City has led on sending that message, opening the first city-authorized safe consumption sites in late 2021 that officials say have already saved lives.

A study published by the American Medical Association (AMA) in July found that the the New York City facilities have decreased overdose risk, steered people away from using in public and provided other ancillary health services to people who use currently illicit substances.

—Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.—

At the federal level, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow tacitly endorsed the idea of authorizing safe consumption sites last year, arguing that evidence has effectively demonstrated that the facilities can prevent overdose deaths.

While Volkow has frequently promoted harm reduction policies to treat addiction like a public health issue, her remarks about safe injection facilities stand out, especially as the Justice Department is in active litigation that started after the Trump administration challenged the opening of such a center in Philadelphia.

DOJ and that nonprofit recently agreed to transfer the case concerning the legality of safe drug consumption sites out of federal district court and to mediation before a magistrate judge in order to finally reach a resolution after numerous delays.

The department said last year that it was actively “evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.”

Meanwhile, the White House drug czar said last year that the Biden administration is reviewing broader drug policy harm reduction proposals, including the authorization of supervised consumption sites—and he went so far as to suggest possible decriminalization.

While the Biden administration is investigating the clinical efficacy of such facilities, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Rahul Gupta said that the proposal to lift the existing federal ban is on the table.

Gupta previously said that it’s critical to explore “any and every option” to reduce overdose deaths, and that could include allowing safe consumption sites for illegal substances if the evidence supports their efficacy.

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, has also signaled that the Biden administration would not move to block the establishment safe injection sites, stressing that “we are literally trying to give users a lifeline.”

But a department spokesperson later walked those remarks back, stating that “HHS does not have a position on supervised consumption sites” and the “issue is a matter of ongoing litigation.” In any case, it would be up to DOJ to decide whether to pursue operators of the facilities under the Controlled Substances Act.

At the state level, Rhode Island became the first state in the U.S. to legalize a safe drug consumption site pilot program in 2021.

In a pair of setbacks for advocates, Vermont’s governor vetoed a bill last year that would have simply created a working group tasked with crafting a plan to open safe consumption sites and the governor of California vetoed a bill last year to permit a pilot program for the harm reduction centers.

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Photo courtesy of Jernej Furman.

New York Lawmakers Approve Bill To Authorize Safe Drug Consumption Sites In Committee

A New York Assembly committee on Tuesday advanced a bill to establish a statewide safe consumption site program, allowing regulators to authorize facilities where people could use currently illicit drugs in a medically supervised environment.

The legislation from Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D) was reported out of the Assembly Health Committee, with a few Democrats joining the Republican minority in voting against it. The bill now heads to the Codes Committee before potentially moving to the floor for consideration.

Under the proposal, the New York Health Department and local agencies would have the ability to authorize safe consumption sites and regulate the facilities.

BREAKING: My legislation, A.224, to authorize overdose prevention centers in New York State just passed the Health Committee.

Countries around the world have used #OPCs for decades to help #EndOverdose. Allowing OPCs to operate in NYS will save lives. pic.twitter.com/aCqwOIOCjP

— Linda B. Rosenthal “the #OriginalRosenthal” (@LindaBRosenthal) May 10, 2022

The intent of the legislation is to prevent overdose deaths by having medical professionals on site at places where they can use pre-obtained controlled substances without facing the threat of arrest or incarceration. People would also be given treatment resources.

Further, the bill would require facilities to provide syringe exchange services where people could obtain sterile hypodermic needles and also safely deposit used syringes.

—Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.—

Education would also be a key component of the law, with a mandate that licensed safe consumption sites provide, “at a minimum,” information about the risks of contracting diseases such as HIV and viral hepatitis when sharing needles.

“This bill will reduce overdose deaths associated with opioid use and the dangers to the public caused by public IV drug use,” the measure’s justification section says, citing the experiences of other countries that currently permit overdose prevention facilities.

The centers would also need to provide education and access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone.

“Substance abuse is a disease and we need to have an open mind [about] how we address those who are addicted and how we can help them from dying,” one member of the Assembly committee said at the hearing on Tuesday.

New York City became the first city in the U.S. to allow government-sanctioned overdose prevention sites to operate in their jurisdiction—and supporters have touted the early results showing that the facilities are already saving lives.

From upstate to downstate, legislators recognize that saving lives is not divisive, but a moral obligation.

‘With only 10 session days left on the calendar, we need our leaders to step into their power, and find the political will to pass the #SCSA.’ -James Hill, User Union. pic.twitter.com/g19ALwsl3B

— VOCAL-NY (@VOCALNewYork) May 10, 2022

“We applaud the members of the Assembly Health Committee for ensuring that this life saving bill is one step closer to passing their house. Now, we need our electeds in the Senate to do the same,” VOCAL-NY’s James Hill said in a press release.

“While Overdose Prevention Centers may not be necessary in all New York State districts, they are desperately needed in communities like mine in Buffalo,” he said. “With only 10 session days left on the calendar, we need our leaders to step into their power, and find the political will to pass the Safer Consumption Services Act.”

Meanwhile, there’s ongoing litigation between the Justice Department and a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization that sought to launch safe consumption sites only to be challenged under the Trump administration.

A deadline for a response from the Biden administration was recently extended in a federal court, which advocates say is reflective of the “productive” conversations they’ve have around the harm reduction policy.

DOJ said in February that it is actively “evaluating supervised consumption sites, including discussions with state and local regulators about appropriate guardrails for such sites, as part of an overall approach to harm reduction and public safety.”

A poll released in April found that a majority of Americans (64 percent) support allowing safe consumption sites.

While the Biden administration has yet to take a specific position on policy proposals to authorize safe consumption facilities, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) put out a pair of requests for applications (RFAs) in December for an effort that will provide funding for efforts to investigate how that and other harm reduction policies could help address the drug crisis.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director Nora Volkow has repeatedly expressed concerns about the harms caused by the criminalization of drug possession, and she told Marijuana Moment in an interview last year that she is open to continuing to explore “how these support systems as a community can help people, for example, engage in treatment, how they can prevent them from getting infected from HIV and how they can prevent them from overdosing and dying.”

Activists in several cities have attempted to establish harm reduction centers in recent years, citing promising results from programs that have been put into place in other countries like Canada and Australia.

In October, the Supreme Court rejected a request to hear a case on the legality of establishing the Safehouse facilities, but the case is still before a lower federal court.

The White House drug czar, Rahul Gupta, recently said that it’s critical to explore “any and every option” to reduce overdose deaths, and that could include allowing safe consumption sites for illegal substances if the evidence supports their efficacy.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) director previously said that he couldn’t talk about the harm reduction centers due to the ongoing litigation related to Safehouse, but he seemed more open to the possibility in an interview with CNN late last year.

The secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Bacerra, also recently signaled that the Biden administration would not move to block the establishment safe injection sites, stressing that “we are literally trying to give users a lifeline.”

But a department spokesperson later walked those remarks back, stating that “HHS does not have a position on supervised consumption sites” and the “issue is a matter of ongoing litigation.” In any case, it would be up to DOJ to decide whether to pursue operators of the facilities under the Controlled Substances Act.

Bacerra was among eight top state law enforcement officials who filed an amicus brief in support of the Safehouse’s safe injection site plan when he served as California’s attorney general.

A coalition of 80 current and former prosecutors and law enforcement officials—including one who is Biden’s pick for U.S. attorney of Massachusetts—previously filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to take up Safehouse’s safe consumption case.

While New York City is the first to open the harm reduction centers, the governor of Rhode Island did sign a historic bill in July to establish a safe consumption site pilot program.

Massachusetts lawmakers advanced similar legislation last year, but it was not ultimately enacted.

A similar harm reduction bill in California, sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D), was approved in the state Senate in April, but further action has been delayed until this year.

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Photo courtesy of Jernej Furman.