Press Release: Mayor Scott, Health Professionals Testify in Support of Overdose Prevention Sites

Overdose prevention sites will save lives and promote safer substance use, advocates say

CONTACT: Harriet Smith, Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition, harriet@baltimoreharmreduction.org and 443-418-6614

Baltimore, MD – Harm reduction advocates, public health professionals and Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott will testify to the Maryland Senate Finance committee today to support a bill that would authorize overdose prevention sites, bringing life-saving resources to the state.

The legislation, SB279, would authorize Maryland to open six overdose prevention sites—safe, private facilities that provide people who use drugs a place for consumption and essential interventions, like naloxone and access to treatment services. The sites will be spread across the state, centered in regions with existing high rates of substance use to reach Marylanders who need overdose prevention sites the most.

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott plans to testify, emphasizing that the overdose crisis has wreaked disproportionate damage in Baltimore for decades and that overdose prevention sites provide a medically proven solution. Jessie Dunleavy, an author who lost her son to an overdose; Ricky Morris, a Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition community outreach coordinator; and Maryland Peer Advisory Council members will also testify that overdose prevention sites will save lives across the state.

Given data showing opioid-related fatalities increased 15% in the first nine months of 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019, overdose prevention sites can save the lives of Marylanders struggling with drug use and combat the double pandemic of the overdose crisis and COVID-19.

“With unprecedented losses because of both COVID-19 and drug overdose, it is our moral duty to look at the research and listen to common sense,” said Harriet Smith, a harm reduction advocate and director of education for the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition (BHRC).

Overdose prevention sites are a proven solution to the overdose crisis that has taken countless lives and destroyed communities. More than 150 overdose prevention sites exist in 12 countries and many have been operating for decades. In the area near a site in Vancouver, Canada, overdose fatality dropped 35% within one year of opening, according to a 2011 study published in The Lancet.

Since 2015, over 11,000 Marylanders have died from accidental opioid-related overdoses, a 185% increase from the five years prior. After years on the front lines of the devastating crisis, many medical professionals have become leading voices in the growing movement to bring overdose prevention sites to Maryland.

Meredith Zoltick, a Baltimore City nurse practitioner, expressed her support for bringing overdose prevention sites to her community.

“Community members with decades of experience in reversing overdoses, providing first aid and specialized medical care, and in managing welcoming drop-in community centers are in the wings, are ready to get to work if only we authorized overdose prevention services,” Zoltick said.

Overdose prevention sites meet people where they are, providing community support in their journey toward access to care. Over three years, the overdose prevention site in Vancouver helped 67% of participants begin treatment.

When someone visits an overdose prevention site, they check in with staff about their health and discuss their intended substance use. The consumption area offers visitors new syringes, a clean preparation area and fentanyl test strips. Fentanyl is a strong and fast acting opioid that can bring overdose on quickly—fentanyl was present in 93% of Maryland opioid-related deaths in 2020. It is important to know when fentanyl is present and to use with supervision.

These resources help reduce the risk of HIV, Hepatitis C and overdoses. The community center feel provides a supportive environment for people who are often isolated in their drug use.

Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition community outreach coordinator Samantha Kerr highlighted the opportunity to help substance users consume drugs safely and respond to medical emergencies if necessary.

“Lives can be saved and informed choices can be made in overdose prevention sites,” Kerr said. “Staff are trained to administer naloxone if needed and educate visitors on harm reduction—substance users and communities will be much safer.”

Today’s testimony follows a five-year effort to bring overdose prevention sites to Maryland. Advocates point out that lives in every corner of the state could have been saved if overdose prevention sites had opened sooner.

“If we had authorized OPS the first time, imagine the number of people who would be alive today,” Bmore POWER’s Ronald Phillips said. “Thousands of deaths could have been prevented.”

SB 279 is sponsored by Senators Shelly Hettleman (D-Baltimore County) and Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery County). The House version of the bill, HB 396, is sponsored by Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk (D-Anne Arundel County).