Impact of Providence’s Overdose Prevention Center on Drug Users

A nonprofit is opening a facility where people can use drugs under medical supervision. It also offers connections to drug treatment

More than 400 people died of a drug overdose in Rhode Island in 2023.
More than 400 people died of a drug overdose in Rhode Island in 2023.
Jeremy Bernfeld / The Public’s Radio
Share
More than 400 people died of a drug overdose in Rhode Island in 2023.
More than 400 people died of a drug overdose in Rhode Island in 2023.
Jeremy Bernfeld / The Public’s Radio
Impact of Providence’s Overdose Prevention Center on Drug Users
Copy

Jason first started using fentanyl a few years ago, when the pandemic threw his life off balance. By now, he’s used to hiding his drug use.

“You duck into, like, an alley, or behind a car or somewhere where no one’s going to see you,” he said.

The Public’s Radio is only using Jason’s first name because he uses illegal drugs. He knows that using alone, in tucked-away places, makes it even riskier to use a drug as dangerous as fentanyl.

“When no one sees you, no one’s going to find you if you overdose,” he said. “And, you know, I’ve lost a few friends, and no one’s found them.”

That’s the problem a new facility is hoping to solve.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.

House budget plan raises Rhode Island’s gas tax to 40 cents per gallon and boosts RIPTA’s share of transportation funds, plugging nearly half its $32.6 million deficit. Transit advocates warn service reductions still loom without broader revenue solutions
Enforcement action comes 653 days after regulators first flagged North Kingstown rock wall built without permission
Trump’s proposed budget rescissions targets foreign aid, public broadcasting, and global health programs drawing praise from fiscal conservatives and outrage from humanitarian groups
Backed by federal funding and local partnerships, the 20,000-square-foot center offers wraparound services — from addiction treatment to dentistry, food, housing support, and more — regardless of a patient’s ability to pay