Join members of the People, Place, & Health Collective at the Brown University School of Public Health and Project Weber/RENEW for a community conversation about the overdose prevention center coming to Providence soon! Members of the public are welcome, and light refreshments will follow the event. There will be an opportunity for Q&A. The event is April 6 from 6 - 7:30 PM!

Sign up (free, of course) and view the location on Eventbrite:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-conversation-learning-about-an-overdose-prevention-center-in-ri-tickets-575024703367

For some context: Providence is going to be getting only the third overdose prevention center / safe injection site / harm reduction center in the US later this year! An overdose prevention center is a safe place where people can go to use drugs they have obtained elsewhere. Staff monitor for overdoses and provide pathways to care.

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Comments

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smokejaguar t1_jcwl0ym wrote on March 20, 2023 at 2:45 AM

Where is this center going to be located?

OpticalFlatulence t1_jcy95km wrote on March 20, 2023 at 2:07 PM

There are going to be some people who are going to have a hard time with this because of the people in their lives they lost to addiction, but this is a place for a second chance.

I'm not the best with my emotions, but I appreciate when I am given those second chances from others.

People suffering from opioid addiction deserve as many second chances as possible. A lot of value systems also want to create opportunities where people can have as many second chances as possible because they value life.

True, a place to do drugs doesn't seem like a good last resort. But maybe these places can be the start of someone's recovery because there is rehab outreach available. Maybe we can also start practicing accountability, not just for those at these clinics, but at the systems in place that lead people to using. (I know I need to work on being accountable for my own actions.)

Low-Dragonfly-5352 t1_jcz1j4c wrote on March 20, 2023 at 5:22 PM

As a recovered drug addict who has overdosed, this seems like a waste of resources that should be spent on education and job training for sober houses. Giving people a safe place to abuse drugs doesn’t help them at all. Overdosing on the other hand tends to lend some much needed reality and always offers the opportunity to get clean. You got to remember being an addict is a disease but drugs are a symptom not a source of healing that disease. This doesn’t sound like you’re teaching that and could potentially be letting a lot of people down.

idharamsi OP t1_jcz212n wrote on March 20, 2023 at 5:26 PM

I hope you come to the event! All perspectives are welcome

nevermore90038 t1_jcz80aa wrote on March 20, 2023 at 6:04 PM

Don't let anyone convince State Government to implement a bottle/can deposit.
Addicts will scour your neighborhood for cans and bottles, turn them in for cash, and then buy more drugs!

sc00p401 t1_jczlk1q wrote on March 20, 2023 at 7:31 PM

I'll take them helping to clean this state up instead of a rude classist like you showing up in my neighborhood.

LumpySp4cePrinces5 t1_jd0891n wrote on March 20, 2023 at 9:58 PM

while harm reduction is wonderful and very needed, i’m wondering what treatment options they will be referring folks out to? everyone in the recovery community is aware of the dearth of high quality treatment options available, and i often fear that focus on harm reduction gives the people who decide on programs & funding an excuse to neglect good, effective treatment, because the goal is to just keep people alive. imo just being alive is the bare minimum.

we should really have a multipronged effort to ensure the options for people who want treatment are actually good options that help people engage with recovery, instead of just Medicaid billing mills. there are loads of people who are desperate for help, but can’t access it because of a lack of availability or they’ve been burned so many times by the low quality programs in RI that they don’t trust that anyone can help them. having a safe place to use will absolutely save lives (and money/resources), but i am skeptical if that’s sufficient.

idharamsi OP t1_jd0g1e3 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 10:52 PM

This view is a very important one and I hope you come to the event and articulate it!

johnsonutah t1_jcwd651 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 1:42 AM

Be better off with a new rehab facility than this, IMO

jpriss t1_jcwa3u9 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 1:18 AM

Yay!! Now we can all OD !!!

MuchachoManSavage t1_jcxjnf4 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 9:50 AM

Seriously. Good thing we have so many resources for people that willingly choose to fuck up their lives. This is way better than allocating those resources to people that are actually down on their luck through no fault of their own /s

listen_youse t1_jcxz049 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 12:45 PM

>people that willingly choose to fuck up.... people down on their luck through no fault of their own

Thank god we have MuchachoMan to infallibly judge who is who!

MuchachoManSavage t1_jcyx8rl wrote on March 20, 2023 at 4:55 PM

Am I wrong? I love drugs just as much as the next guy but everyone knows what these particular drugs can do before they ever try them. Sorry, I only have so much sympathy and this seems like an easily avoidable predicament to put oneself in. You know this and I know this, internet hero.

OpticalFlatulence t1_jcz3v5s wrote on March 20, 2023 at 5:37 PM

I think it's important to consider the pathways to opioid exposure.

Now, today, everyone knows about opioid addiction risks, but 10 years ago, this might not have been the case. Anecdotal evidence should normally not be used, but I remember patient's stories about doctors saying that Percocets were not risky to use as painkillers, yet these are opiates. The incentivized prescribing of opiate painkillers in our healthcare system did not make transparent choices accessible, either.

I know I sound like an online internet hero today, but occasionally, my work means I interface with people suffering from addiction issues. I think it is important to take the time to learn about the pathways towards addiction. I understand that, sometimes, our online personas vary from the real world, but real people will read this. A real person might be someone who is suffering from addiction and wants to get better. I have shame and guilt to deal with, but not at the scale that other people might have.

Sympathies may already be over-taxed and exhausted, but that little bit extra may just be what another person needs to push them towards that better space. Thank you for trying to access that.

MuchachoManSavage t1_jcz7w7h wrote on March 20, 2023 at 6:03 PM

I don’t know. This is also anecdotal too but everyone I knew who OD’d or has a drug problem got into drugs because that’s what their peers were doing, not because of anything prescription related. I’m just saying we have limited resources and I would rather see people focus on battered women or homeless children or something like that.

OpticalFlatulence t1_jcz93a8 wrote on March 20, 2023 at 6:11 PM

Sorry for nitpicking, but I imagine both battered women and homeless children have suffered as a result of opiate addiction and the deaths associated from it.

Edit: this problem is, of course, much more complex. But if there is at least somewhere safe, perhaps that is the second chance that someone needs. It is impossible to make 100% change, but perhaps we can utilize this, and then work on the real problems that create the opioid epidemic.