Supervised injection sites would help reduce opioid overdose deaths in the Bay State, according to state health officials as drug fatalities continue to remain elevated amid an unrelenting opioid epidemic.

A new Massachusetts Department of Public Health report has found that “overdose prevention centers” in the Bay State would help cut down on the number of local opioid overdoses and deaths. This comes as DPH reported on Wednesday that more than 2,300 overdose deaths occurred in the state during a recent one-year span.

Overdose prevention centers, which have operated for decades in other countries like Canada and Australia, are sites where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained staff — who can administer overdose reversal medication, also known as Narcan.

No overdose death has ever been reported at a sanctioned overdose prevention center, as highlighted in the DPH report.

“We know most overdose deaths occur in private and go unwitnessed,” said DPH Commissioner Robert Goldstein. “Overdose prevention centers, therefore, can be lifelines, serving not only as places of intervention, but as places of empathy, understanding, and healing.”

Overdose prevention centers could become a reality in Massachusetts, pending State House legislation to extend state-level legal protections.

State legislation would provide a much-needed guarantee to a community or private entity that it would not be subject to state criminal or civil enforcement. Legislation would also reduce exposure to federal enforcement, and enable state regulation of facilities.

The Legislature has been considering a bill that would give municipalities the authority to establish overdose prevention centers.

“OPCs irrefutably save lives and the alarming overdose data reported today underscores the dire need to authorize OPCs in the Commonwealth as a critical harm reduction tool,” said Barbara Spivak, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

“Building upon this important study, we urge legislative action to establish the necessary legal and liability protections to ensure this vital public health approach can become a reality,” Spivak added.

Related Articles

Roxbury residents weigh ideas for playground near Mass and Cass

Sinaloa drug cartel’s Massachusetts fentanyl distributor sentenced to 25 years in prison

Men die nearly 6 years before women, as US life expectancy gap widens: Harvard Public Health

Other services at overdose prevention centers typically include access to sterile supplies, first-aid administration, drug-testing services, infectious disease testing, and referrals to health and social services including substance use disorder treatment.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, DPH reported that there were 2,323 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths between Oct. 1, 2022 and Sept. 30, 2023 — eight fewer deaths than the same time period last year. Massachusetts reported a record 2,359 opioid-related overdose deaths in all of 2022.

The preliminary data shows that fentanyl was detected in 93% of all opioid-related overdose deaths in the first three months of this year. The increasingly toxic drug supply in the U.S. and ongoing opioid epidemic have claimed the lives of more than 25,000 people in Massachusetts since 2000.