The Importance of Overdose Prevention Centers

February 28, 2025

We’d like to thank McCall Harm Reduction Coordinator, Kyle Fitzmaurice, for contributing the following article.

This month, I had the honor of being one of the many people who testified in support of a Connecticut bill (SB1285) to establish an Overdose Prevention Center pilot program. The facilities will serve as access points to treatment and harm reduction resources. They’re essentially spaces where people can feel safe. 

After speaking, I reflected on the 60 individuals who testified before me, sharing their stories, expertise, and valuable insights. It was emotionally exhausting to hear so many stories of heartbreaking, unnecessary loss of life. The stories from people in recovery had a common theme, along the lines of “I didn’t feel like I could tell people I was using” or “I hoped someone would find me in time if I overdosed.” Unfortunately, many of the stories ended with someone not being found in time. 

Something that really stayed with me was a quote shared by one of our colleagues from the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance. He said that “ignorance doesn’t have to be malicious to be harmful.” That comment brought back conversations I’ve been part of—personally and professionally—about harm reduction. Most of the time, the common thread is that people care about the issue of substance use prevention. However, recommendations regarding the proper courses of action were vastly different. Common responses to substance use prevention sadly continue to be outdated and have been proven to be less effective, such as tough love, coercion, forced treatment, and arrest.

The objective does not have to be to change minds. Instead, we can plant seeds, leave the door open, and simply educate. I recognize that it may feel impossibly frustrating, but when I think about the times in my own life when I had my own mind changed about something, it was by people who met my ignorance with some level of grace. Any time someone shamed me for not knowing, gave a snarky laugh, or grew upset when I didn’t acknowledge some key detail, my ears turned off, and I went into defensive mode. For those who have heard me chat with someone who disagreed with me about harm reduction, they’ve seen what leaving the door open looks like. It almost always ends with an invitation to our harm reduction office. I extend the invitation because it’s hard to be against the work once you’ve seen it. Harm reduction is about keeping the lines of communication open so that conversations can occur when people are ready.

It was evident during the day I testified that a lot of folks understandably envision harm reduction as a way to get people into treatment. Lines like “dead people don’t recover” were common. While harm reduction can absolutely be a conduit to treatment, it’s not the sole objective.

Treatment—even abstinence—certainly can be considered harm reduction. Harm reduction values autonomy, celebrating the small wins, and ensuring that there’s simply a space for people who so often feel like there isn’t one. Harm reduction is not, however, any type of forced, coercive, or judgmental push in any direction. Overdose Prevention Centers, syringe service programs, and supplies ranging from safer smoking kits to safer sex kits, all center around the core idea that people are going to do what they’re going to do, and we don’t have to condone the behavior to ensure they’re safe.

People tend to forget that our neighbors who are feeling hurt or alone want us to show them we care and then ask them what they need. Often, they just simply want us to be there for them. They don’t always need nuggets of wisdom. They need someone to sit in the mud with them and for them to be validated enough to feel what they need to feel. They need acceptance.

For one hour a week at our harm reduction sites, we can provide that acceptance. Individuals come to us for harm reduction supplies, access to treatment, and a warm conversation. Then they leave until the following week. They often use substances alone in their homes, their cars, and their tents. What an Overdose Prevention Center offers is so much more than a safe space. It’s a place that may help save lives. A place where people know their belongings won’t be stolen, where people won’t be assaulted if they’re unable to protect themselves. A place where people can receive compassionate care without judgment. A place to feel accepted.

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