![]() Somerville approved funds needed for a mobile supervised drug use clinic this month, WBUR reports and the city council is expected to vote on a final piece of funding in the coming weeks. Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, who has been an advocate for the progressive-leaning city in its fight to establish such a site, said she recently visited the two sites in New York to learn more about efficient and safe operations. ![]() Two centers in New York have so far not drawn any response from federal officials. Nico Alicea, a recovery coach with the Massachusetts Organization For Addiction Recovery, said the sites help “keep you alive long enough so you can find your own recovery pathway” by providing a safe place to use. These facilities are also called safe consumption sites and safe injection sites and are operating in other states and countries. Wencus was one of the speakers at a briefing Thursday in support of a bill (H 1981 / S 1242) that would launch a 10-year pilot program for municipalities to create so-called overdose prevention centers, with the approval of local boards of health. “Where is the outrage? Where is the outrage?” Supervised Drug Use Site Bill “I can’t help but wonder if my son would be alive today if overdose prevention centers were available,” said Lynn Wencus, whose son died from an overdose in 2017. Since lawmakers first introduced a bill in 2017 to provide sanctioned spaces for those with substance use disorder to use drugs under a doctor’s supervision, over 10,700 Massachusetts residents have died from opioid-related overdose. ![]() The fatality rate of 33.5 per 100,000 people reflects a 2.5 percent increase over 2021 and a 9.1 percent increase from 2016, the pre-pandemic peak. Massachusetts experienced 2,357 confirmed and estimated fatal opioid-related overdoses in 2022, a new record high, according to data the Department of Public Health published Thursday. BOSTON (SHNS) – Facing down new data showing the worst year on record for opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts, advocates gathered at the state capitol on Thursday and said that they have had enough of Beacon Hill’s inaction on supervised drug use sites.
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