Are safe injection sites the answer to rising drug overdose deaths in Worcester?

WORCESTER – There was an alarming increase in drug overdose deaths last year in Worcester: 90 according to preliminary numbers provided by police, up a whopping 165% from 34 in 2021.

This year, police report seven fatal overdoses through the end of March. Last year, fatal overdoses spiked in June (10) and July (15).

Police noted that fatality numbers take six months or more to validate. The preliminary numbers come as Dr. Matilde Castiel, Worcester's commissioner of health and human services, visited a supervised injection site in New York City earlier this week. Castiel made the trip to learn more about how these sites work and whether they could be a good fit for Worcester as the city confronts a rising number of overdose deaths.

Supervised injection sites have medical professionals who monitor drug users as they're shooting up. The goal is to prevent overdose deaths and get drug users into recovery and treatment, if they want it.

“This is truly something that needs to happen in our state,” said Castiel after her visit to New York City.

Supervised injection sites are controversial. Supporters say they save lives, because users aren't injecting alone, when many fatalities occur. Opponents claim the sites enable drug users and are a magnet for crime.

Not allowed in Mass.

The facilities, also called overdose prevention centers and harm reduction centers, aren't allowed in Massachusetts because state lawmakers haven't voted to legalize them. Bills calling for their legalization were filed this legislative session, after previous bills languished in prior sessions.

Federal law also doesn't allow the sites, but the Biden administration has reportedly looked the other way, letting states and cities and towns decide if they want them. Rhode Island in 2021 became the first state to legalize them with passage of a two-year pilot program, but no locations have opened there.

Also in 2021, the first two safe injection sites in the country opened in New York City, operated by a nonprofit, OnPointNYC. Besides the one in East Harlem that Castiel visited, another is located in Washington Heights.

Good fit for Worcester?

Castiel said she was impressed by the facility's staff and how they served clients, but she's not ready to commit to them in Worcester unless state lawmakers vote to legalize them.

The New York sites don't receive federal funds because federal law deems them illegal. But they received state funds, Castiel said, for all support services that happen outside the facilities. All services inside the facilities are funded with private donations.

Castiel believes there are sources of private dollars in Worcester and nationwide to help fund a supervised injection site in Worcester.

What Castiel learned

Castiel learned during her visit that the two New York sites prevented a total of more than 800 overdoses. Out of that number, 15 required the assistance of emergency medical services. That low rate of assistance saved New York City $17 million, Castiel said, because overdoses normally result in calls to EMS for help.

As for how much it costs to run a supervised injection site, Castiel said she didn’t get that information during her visit. OnPoint NYC reportedly had 240 employees and a $14 million budget eight months after its two sites opened.

Bottom line, Castiel supports supervised injection sites to prevent fatal drug overdoses.

“It’s another tool we could use. This is harm reduction, and it’s incredibly important,” she said.

Joining Castiel on the trip was Zachary Dyer, the city's deputy commissioner of health and human services; and representatives from AIDS Project Worcester and Living in Freedom Together.

State Rep. James O'Day, D-West Boylston, also made the fact-finding trip, said Audra Doody, LIFT's senior director of outreach and advocacy, who joined the group in New York.

Efforts to contact O'Day for comment were unsuccessful.

Observations

Doody described the scene inside the facility as eight private booths, each with mirrors and lights, where drugs are injected as four staff members were in the room to provide assistance. Many of the clients were men, said Doody, and the overdose-reversing medication Narcan was readily available.

As for whether this kind of facility could work in Worcester, Doody said it could if the right agency took it on and ran it properly. People she talked with in New York told her public parks that were closed for 20 years are now open because drug users have a safe place to inject drugs instead of shooting up in the park.

However, Doody is not completely sold on the idea for Worcester.

"It actually would help the community (in Worcester). I'm just on the fence, personally," she said.

Doody pointed out that East Harlem is a more densely populated area compared to Worcester, so a supervised injection site may be a better fit in a larger city like Boston. Especially in a place like the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard that has experienced a large homeless encampment.

Contact Henry Schwan at henry.schwan@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @henrytelegram

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester officials impressed by safe injection sites in New York City