Nearly Two Years On, the First Legal Overdose Prevention Center in the U.S. Has Served About 1,500 People and Intervened in More Than 200 Overdoses
In Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island, the state became the first in the nation in 2021 to legalize spaces where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained staff, and the overdose prevention center in Providence has become a national test case for whether the approach reduces overdose deaths. The center is run by the nonprofit Project Weber/RENEW from a two-story office building on Willard Street near Rhode Island Hospital, offering medical supervision and referrals to treatment and social services.
According to reporting published November 2, since opening in January of last year the center has served about 1,500 people across more than 12,000 visits, and staff have intervened in more than 200 overdoses. The figures are preliminary, and independent researchers are still evaluating the center's effectiveness. The Rhode Island Department of Health reports 219 accidental overdose deaths statewide in 2025, down more than 33% from the previous year; the reporting also notes the statewide decline began before the center opened, and researchers have not established how much of it, if any, is attributable to the facility.
Kathy Schultz, director of the Governor's Overdose Task Force, said the center continues to be funded through opioid settlement money, with funding in place through fiscal 2028; the state has committed at least $5.5 million in settlement funds to the center this year, but no long-term funding plan beyond 2028 has been confirmed. Deputy director Ashley Perry said most visitors first get coffee, and that the center provides treatment referrals and social services, not only a place to use.
(Source: Ocean State Media)
Source: Ocean State Media
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于普罗维登斯的罗得岛州议会大厦。Bestbudbrian 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Rhode Island State House in Providence. By Bestbudbrian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
