Four Years After Rhode Island Lawmakers OK Safe Injection Site Program, They’re Still Debating its Merits

Rep. Jay Edwards expected opposition when he first pitched the idea of setting up medically supervised sites in Rhode Island where people could safely use illegal drugs.

But in the four years since Edwards’ bill was signed into law, making Rhode Island the first state in the nation to authorize “harm reduction centers,” concern and misunderstanding have dissipated over what researchers and health care providers agree may help mitigate drug overdoses and deaths. Since opening in mid-January, the state’s first and only harm reduction center has drawn more than 500 visitors and prevented 27 overdose deaths, according to information from Project Weber/RENEW, the nonprofit that operates the south Providence site.

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Rhode Island Opens First State-Sanctioned Overdose Prevention Center in the Nation

The new facility in Providence, operated by the nonprofit Project Weber/RENEW, provides a place for people to use drugs under medical supervision

December 11, 2024 08:46 AM

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1 min read

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Nina Sparling

This is why Edwards was caught off guard by the lengthy and fiery debate among his House colleagues Tuesday over a proposed two-year extension to the existing program, to March 1, 2028.

“It kind of surprised me,” Edwards, a Tiverton Democrat, said in an interview Wednesday. “This is a law that is already in place and we already have a site up and running. They’re not going to take it down this minute.”

The House ultimately approved the extension legislation by a 52-17 vote, with six members absent, following a 90-minute floor debate. The passionate debate centered not on whether the existing pilot program should be extended, and more on the criminal and health implications of offering a place for people to use illegal drugs at all.

“They were just rehashing the same issue that we already decided,” Edwards said in an interview Wednesday. “There was nothing novel about the opposition.”

He went on to characterize opponents’ proclamations as “grandstanding” and “playing to the cameras.”

Phrases like “sanctioned opium dens” and “Band-Aid approach” were invoked by opposing lawmakers of both political parties, who alleged that giving people a place to safely use drugs would drive up violence and criminal activity in the surrounding neighborhood.

The city of Providence has not received any police, fire or emergency management calls to the address of Project Weber/RENEW’s center near Rhode Island Hospital since the safe injection site opened this year, Anthony Vega, a city spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday. Data on 911 calls and arrests to other addresses surrounding the center were not immediately available.

How the center impacts visitors and the community, including police activity, is being studied by Brown University researchers.

Amendments to Edwards’ extension bill bolster program reporting requirements to include the number of people connected to other specialists for addiction treatment, and total overdoses prevented. Existing law requires state-authorized harm reduction centers to provide other health screening and disease prevention resources by medically trained professionals.

Project Weber/RENEW relocated its headquarters to the south Providence building that houses the safe injection site, providing space for administrative work and other community health and support services, Roman said.

House Minority Whip David Place, a Burrillville Republican, supported the extension of the pilot program as a way to gather more data on its effectiveness, even though he said he “adamantly opposed” the original bill.

“We made a decision however many years ago to put this policy into effect,” Place said during the floor debate. “We owe it to ourselves to check it out and see how it works.”

Mandy Roman, a spokesperson for Project Weber/RENEW, also stressed the importance of a longer operational period in an email Wednesday.

“We know firsthand that building trust, gathering meaningful data, and demonstrating impact takes time,” Roman said. “A longer pilot period is essential to fully evaluate the program’s effectiveness in saving lives and connecting people to care.”

Gov. Dan McKee, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley and the Mental Health Association of Rhode Island also wrote to lawmakers to back the extension bill.

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Rep. Pat Serpa, a West Warwick Democrat, pointed to the lack of buy-in from cities and towns except for Providence — the law requires city or town councils to formally vote to agree to host a harm reduction center — as evidence of the public opposition.

“If this is so virtuous if this such a great idea, why don’t you propose this in your district,” said Rep. Jon Brien, a Woonsocket independent. “My suspicion is there will be somebody sitting in your seat after the next election?”

Yet Rep. José Batista, a Providence Democrat whose district includes the center operated by Project Weber/RENEW, supported the program, and the two-year extension. He acknowledged he was initially concerned.

“The shortest point that helped convince me was, if you don’t like safe locations, what about all the unsafe locations that exist right now: under bridges, in the dark,” Batista said.

Batista also argued that punitive measures to sanction illegal drug activity have historically failed.

“Perhaps we should try something different, something backed by science and research and data,” he said.

Drug-related overdoses in Rhode Island fell by 21% from 2023 to 2024, to 320 deaths, according to state health data. Illegal drugs, used alone or in combination with authorized prescription medications, continue to dominate, responsible for nearly 84% of drug-related overdose deaths in 2024.

“We have to stop thinking people who use drugs are bad people and we have to stop shaming them,” said Karen Alzate, a Pawtucket Democrat. “We are not here as a legislative body to continue to shame people who go into these centers.”

State law specifies that harm reduction centers be funded by revenue from opioid settlement lawsuits. But several opposing lawmakers decried other costs associated with centers. Project Weber/RENEW, as a nonprofit, doesn’t pay property taxes, for example.

Rep. Charlene Lima, a Cranston Democrat, also questioned the burden on first responders, assuming that police and ambulance visits to the south Providence neighborhood had increased since Project Weber/RENEW opened its doors.

“Don’t tell me you think this is free and it’s just falling out of the sky,” Lima said. “That’s a load of baloney.”

Courtesy of Mandy Roman with Project Weber/RENEW

Amid the rising tones and tensions, Rep. Gregory Costantino, a Lincoln Democrat, struck a noticeably subdued tenor as he shared a story about an unnamed pair of teenage brothers, the older of whom struggled with addiction to various drugs.

“At 27 years old, I had to bury my brother,” Costantino said. “It devastated, devastated our family.”

The whispers in the chamber quieted as Costantino continued.

“I am totally against drugs, but guess what, if these harm reduction centers save one person, what’s the value of that life? I’d give everything I have, everything I own to see my brother again.”

Similar though not identical legislation in the Rhode Island Senate sponsored by Melissa Murray, a Woonsocket Democrat, would make the pilot program permanent. Murray’s bill remains under review by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services following an initial hearing on March 4. A committee vote has not been scheduled, and potential amendments to Murray’s bill are still being reviewed, Greg Paré, a Senate spokesperson, said in a text message Wednesday.