Overdose Prevention Centers: Advancing Harm Reduction and the Right to Health in the United States

This paper advocates for Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) to advance the right to health among people with opioid use disorder in the United States. Despite a recent decline in overdose fatalities, the U.S. continues to face record-high deaths driven by polysubstance use, limited access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT), and persistent health disparities. OPCs provide supervised drug use, overdose reversal, and connections to health and social services. Research shows OPCs prevent fatal overdoses, reduce public drug use, and increase service engagement without increasing drug initiation. In addition, OPCs provide people with opioid use disorder with dignity and treat them with empathy, necessary prerequisites to engaging individuals in behavior change. There is a strong need for legal protections and sustained funding to expand OPCs as part of a comprehensive drug policy response.