SIFMA NOW!
SIFMA Now! is the first organization dedicated to authorizing overdose prevention centers in MA and has been advocating for the opening of OPC since 2016. We are a grassroots coalition of people who use or used drugs, people who have lost loved ones to preventable overdose, harm reductionists, healthcare professionals, attorneys, researchers, students (medical, public health, legal), and community members. We know that only an evidence-based, public-health, and harm reduction approach will stem the tide of preventable overdose deaths and worked in partnership with legislators to introduce the first OPC bills in Massachusetts in 2017. Since then, we haven’t stopped organizing, advocating, and agitating for the passage of OPC. Every overdose death is a policy failure and choice - SIFMA Now!
OPC Basics & Need in MAssachusetts
Basic information about overdose prevention centers, their benefits and why we need OPC in MA now!
OPC ACTION ALERT!
In light of the MA legislature's decision to remove OPC from their proposed Substance Use legislation on December 17, 2024 we are updating our action alert and strategizing next steps and will share updates as we have them.
HEAR FROM PEOPLE SAYING #YESTOSCS IN MA!
Read our statement on MA legislature's decision to remove OPC from substance use legislation, and hear from people who use drugs, families who have lost loved ones to preventable overdose, medical professionals, and elected officials on why we need OPC in MA now!
OVERDOSE PREVENTION CENTERS:
BASIC INFO & NEED IN MA
What are Overdose Prevention Centers (OPC)?
OPC are places where people can use pre-obtained drugs under supervision. They can also provide easy access to drug treatment as well as health and social services. OPC help keep people safe from preventable harm like HIV, hepatitis, and overdose, as well as abscesses, endocarditis, and other things that land people in the hospital. OPC are an evidence based, cost-effective component of a comprehensive approach to preventing overdose and related harm.Massachusetts is Behind the Curve
Almost 200 OPC operate in over 60 cities worldwide, including in Vancouver, Montreal & Toronto. In July of 2021, Rhode Island became the first state in the country to authorize OPC, and will be opening a site in Providence by the end of 2024. This past May, Vermont joined RI in authorizing OPC, with plans to open a site in Burlington. In November of 2021, two city-sanctioned OPCs opened in New York City. After a year and a half in operation, there were over 68,000 site visits, and staff had reversed nearly 850 overdoses. In an early evaluation of the OPCs, participants reported that had they not had access to the sites, they would have had to use in a public or semipublic location. An adjacent playground that was closed down because of abandoned syringes has been reopened and is currently being used safely by neighborhood children. This data reveals the tremendous need and impact of OPC.What OPC Legislation in MA Would Do
Legislation as currently written would authorize a 10 year pilot program for overdose prevention centers in Massachusetts. The legislation is narrowly crafted to allow individual municipalities the power to decide whether they want to host an OPC, legally clearing the way for that local decision while protecting potential staff and participants.The city of Somerville has already committed to the operation of an OPC, and this March the Worcester Board of Health approved the creation of an OPC pending legal approval from the state. And in May, the Cambridge City Council shared their unanimous support for OPC legislation and to explore moving forward with OPC in Cambridge. Although the MA Department of Public Health has shared their commitment to supporting municipalities in rolling out overdose prevention centers, there are only so many protections and resources they can offer without OPC being legally authorized in MA.
TAKE ACTION TO SAVE LIVES!
TAKE ACTION!In June of 2024 the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released preliminary data that shows 2,125 people in MA died of preventable opioid-related overdose in 2023. While this is a 10% decrease from the at least 2,335 lives lost to overdose death in 2022 we maintain EVERY life is precious, every life lost to PREVENTABLE overdose is too many.SIFMA Now! worked in partnership with legislators to introduce the first OPC legislation in Massachusetts in 2017. Since then, OPC bills have been introduced every session with several Committee Hearings where there has been overwhelming support from people who use drugs, people with lived experience, people who have lost loved ones to preventable overdose, public health providers and experts, legal experts, law enforcement, and a growing number of legislators. In January of 2023, OPC legislation (SB.1242 & H.1982) was re-filed. Following another successful October 2023 Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery hearing the bills were ordered out of committee in March of 2024, and then became stuck in Ways and Means.On Monday July 29, with only three days left in the formal legislative session, the Senate released a substance use omnibus bill that includes OPC! On Tuesday July 30, the Senate debated amendments in the bill and passed a SU bill that includes OPC! On Wednesday July 31, the LAST day of the formal legislative session, The House Speaker and Senate President appointed a conference committee to reconcile the amendments the Senate offered in their bill (S.2921) to the House substance use bill (H.4758), including OPC.By the end of a 19 hour session, the legislature ran out the clock on their formal session without passing a substance use bill, the prison moratorium, and many other crucial pieces of legislation advocates have been building support for all session, or in the case of OPC and may other bills, many sessions. The legislature’s lack of political will and general inaction has left OPC in flux for informal sessions, which began August 5, where even just dissenting one vote will kill the entire SU bill.We cannot afford to go through another lengthy legislative session. Every overdose death is a policy failure and choice. For seven years elected leadership has chosen to ignore evidence and demand for OPC causing more people in MA to die of preventable overdose death - and are doing so again. We’re asking you to share your support and demand your legislators and elected leadership pass Substance Use legislation during informal sessions that includes OPC TODAY - people's lives depend on them!
ACTION OPTIONSYour voice matters! Your experience, perspective, and support can influence legislators. We must show broad support for OPC and demand legislators pass a substance use bill that includes OPC this session!
Email your legislators, Committee Chairs, and leadership to share your support of OPC and urge them to pass a substance use bill that includes OPC this session!
Amplify this call to action, show broad support for OPC, and pressure #MApoli legislators and elected leadership to do everything within their power to authorize OPC in MA to save lives now by sharing on social media.
ACTION RESOURCESSample emails, talking points, and social media graphics and messaging can be found in our advocacy toolkit.
Context in Massachusetts
Preliminary data from MA DPH shows 2,125 people in MA died of preventable opioid-related overdose in 2023. While this is a 10% decrease from the at least 2,335 lives lost to overdose death in 2022 EVERY life is precious, every life lost to PREVENTABLE overdose is too many.
The past few years have seen a 69% increase in overdose deaths among Black men in Massachusetts - more evidence that the war on drugs is a war on Black and Brown people.
We lose 6 community members a day to preventable overdose in MA - no one has ever died at an OPC.
Benefits for people who use drugs
OPC reduce fatal overdose – there are almost 200 OPC worldwide, and no one has ever had a fatal overdose in one
OPC reduce HIV, hepatitis C, and other injection-related infections
OPC help people access substance use disorder treatment
People who use an OPC are 35% more likely to seek addiction treatment compared to those who are not.
OPC improve access to harm reduction, health care, and social services
OPC provide a caring, safe space to access care and services
Benefits for the community
OPC reduce fatal overdose – nearly everyone knows someone who died of overdose. None of those people had to die. Every overdose death is a policy failure.
OPC save public money
OPC reduce publicly discarded syringes
OPC reduce public drug use, drug use in business bathrooms, etc.
OPC improve neighborhood security
OPC reduce the number of sedated people on the street, in bus stops, etc.
HEAR FROM PEOPLE SAYING #YESTOSCS IN MA!
On December 17, 2024 a Legislative Conference Committee failed to include OPC in proposed substance use disorder legislation (H.5142). You can read our press release here .
In July of 2020, dozens of medical providers, people who use drugs, harm reductionists, legislators, family members who lost children to preventable overdose, and community members converged on the State House demanding the passage of OPC legislation, which would authorize OPC in MA. Hear them share why we need overdose prevention centers in MA now!
What's Stopping Us? Safe Consumption Sites Work! is an 8 minute short created by SIFA Now! member Bill Fried. It emphasizes the efficacy and need for overdose prevention centers in MA and features people who use drugs, medical professionals, family who have lost loved ones to preventable overdose, and elected officials.