Press Release: Mayor Scott, Family Advocates Will Testify that Overdose Prevention Sites Will Save Lives in MD

Overdose prevention sites provide a bridge to wellness and healthcare for people who use drugs – while saving lives.

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

Baltimore, MD – Mayor Brandon Scott, harm reduction advocates, and the families of Marylanders who died from overdose will testify to the Maryland House Health and Government Operations committee today to support a bill that would authorize overdose prevention sites, bringing life-saving resources to the state.

The legislation, HB 396, would authorize Maryland to open six overdose prevention sites—safe, private facilities that provide people who use drugs a safe 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 take a public health-driven approach to reducing overdose deaths. Jessie Dunleavy, an author who lost her son to an overdose; Rajani Gudlavalleti and Ricky Morris, Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition community outreach coordinators; and Maryland Peer Advisory Council member Tiffinee Scott will also testify that overdose prevention sites will save lives across the state.

“On behalf of the BRIDGES Coalition, I want to thank Mayor Scott and the bill sponsors for their leadership and support of this life-saving community solution,” Scott said. “I also want to thank the advocates testifying today for sharing their personal stories of loss. Every day, nearly seven Marylanders die from overdose. Every day, someone has to grieve the loss of their son, their brother, their sister, their aunt, their friend. After years of over-policing drug use, which has failed to make our communities safer, we need to try a different tactic. Overdose prevention sites are a proven solution that will connect people to needed services and save lives.”

Today’s testimony follows a five-year effort to bring overdose prevention sites to Maryland — advocates point out that lives in across the state could have been saved if overdose prevention sites had opened sooner. 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 will save the lives of Marylanders struggling with drug use and combat the double pandemic of the overdose crisis and COVID-19.

Overdose prevention sites provide integrated services including drug treatment, case management, and a safe place to consume drugs that significantly reduces the risk of fatal overdose and infectious diseases. The sites are an innovative tool to combat the overdose crisis that has taken countless lives and destroyed communities, and more than 150 overdose prevention sites exist in 12 countries and many have operated for decades.

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