U.S. opioid deaths are out of control. Can safe injection sites help?
A new study will evaluate OnPoint NYC's two overdose prevention sites and another future site
![Open room with drug consumption booths, crash carts and text on the back wall that reads "This site saves lives" in English and Spanish.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/021024_OPC_feat.jpg?resize=1440%2C810&ssl=1)
Painted in blue letters at OnPoint in East Harlem are the words, “This site saves lives,” in English and Spanish
ONPOINT NYC
By Tara Haelle
It’s June 2023 and Victor has been spending most of his days at what he calls his “second home,” on East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, in East Harlem. A dozen or so men congregate outside, some sifting through belongings in a plastic bag or texting on their phone, others sitting on folding chairs or stools, playing cards, smoking, talking or just watching passersby. As an unhoused person in New York City, Victor says OnPoint NYC, a nonprofit organization that opened two overdose prevention centers in November 2021, provides him a “sense of community” he can’t get elsewhere.
Inside, Victor, who provided only his first name when I talked to him last June, will go through reception and into a back room. He’ll fill out a form that provides the information OnPoint needs to make sure he doesn’t die. The form asks for his name and time of arrival, what drug he’ll be consuming and how he’ll consume it. From a list that includes meth, marijuana, cocaine, crack, benzos, fentanyl, speedball and many more, he checks heroin, which he’ll inject. At the bottom, the form asks: “If you weren’t using here now, where would you have gone to use?” Options include the street, sidewalk, between cars, under a bridge, a park, a public restroom, a subway station, your own place (Victor doesn’t have one), a friend’s place or “other.” And it asks if he’d be using alone.
“Yes” is a common answer to that last question. That’s why OnPoint NYC exists. Its two locations, the one in East Harlem and one in the Washington Heights neighborhood, are the only officially sanctioned overdose prevention centers, or OPCs, operating in the United States. People bring drugs they’ve obtained elsewhere and use them under the supervision of trained staff who can provide sterile supplies for drug use and can respond to overdoses.
![A street corner showing OnPoint in Washington Heights with graffiti on the outside.](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/021024_OPC_inline_1_1030.jpg?resize=1030%2C579&ssl=1)
The approach remains highly controversial in the United States, with critics pointing out that the sites are sanctioning, if not encouraging, illegal drug use. What’s more, critics are concerned that OPCs increase crime, local drug use and public nuisance in the area. This opposition is just one of the challenges alongside many legal, social, financial and logistical barriers for an OPC trying to open and remain open.
“I understand what it sounds like, right? You’re gonna allow people to use drugs on your site,” says Sam Rivera, executive director of OnPoint NYC. “When people question whether it’s good or it gets people well, showing them is what gives them the answer. The answer is yes, of course it does.”