The US’s First State-Sanctioned Safe Drug Consumption Site Prepares To Open In Rhode Island [Video]

On Tuesday afternoon, organizers cut the ribbon on the first state-sanctioned safe consumption site for illegal drugs in the United States. The facility—located in Providence, Rhode Island—stems from a 2021 bill creating a pilot program for overdose prevention centers (OPCs) in the state.

Operated by the nonprofit Project Weber/RENEW in partnership with addiction care provider VICTA, the new facility is expected to begin offering supervised drug consumption services as soon as it receives final licensing approval.

Once that happens, researchers at Brown University will be following the developments.

“The goal is to identify how OPCs operate in the United States,” Brown epidemiology professor Brandon D.L. Marshall said in a university postabout the project. “If they are working, what makes them particularly helpful for people? In what ways do they connect people to addiction treatment and care? How can they best be integrated into a community that’s been hard hit by …