Researchers at Brown University will be studying the effectiveness of an overdose prevention center set to open soon in Providence.
Brandon Marshall, professor of epidemiology, is leading a team of researchers who will evaluate how the site, operated by Project Weber/RENEW, affects the overdose crisis and the local community.
They have already enrolled 250 people in the study who use harm reduction services around Rhode Island. The team will compare them with another 250 people who will be recruited directly from the overdose prevention center, which is next to the Rhode Island Hospital campus.
“We are following folks for up to 18 months to look at some of their longer-term trends in drug use and overdose risk,” Marshall said. “And we hypothesize that people who use the overdose prevention center will have a lower rate of overdose over those 18 months. And then we’re also looking to see primarily the extent to which people are accessing addiction treatment.”
Marshall has been studying harm reduction centers since 2011. There are more than 200 of these sites around the world, including two that opened in New York City in 2021. Unlike the one in Providence, the facilities in New York City are not state-sanctioned.
“I think this is a promising public health intervention that has seen success in Canada, in Europe, in Australia,” Marshall said. “Now we need to know, though, does it work in the United States? We have the world’s most severe overdose crisis, and we have a healthcare system that’s unlike anything else in the developed world as well.”
There has never been a deadly overdose at a harm reduction center worldwide, Marshall said. He expects the Providence site, located at 45 Willard Ave., will contribute to a drop in emergency room visits and hospitalizations, but not everyone’s convinced.
When asked how he would respond to those who believe that overdose prevention centers are enabling people who are addicted to opioids, Marshall said, “At the end of the day, what these centers are trying to do is connect people to services and in particular, addiction treatment. That’s one of the main goals.”
Rhode Island PBS Weekly spoke with a man named Willie who smokes crack. He asked that his face not be shown and his voice be disguised. He said he plans to use drugs at the overdose prevention center.
“I think it’s more safe here than you do it by yourself in the street,” Willie said.
Willie said he’s been arrested twice for using crack in public. He plans to test his drugs at the site for fentanyl. He’s never overdosed but he worries about it. He said he knows “a lot of friends” who’ve died from drug overdoses.
The overdose prevention center is largely funded by opioid settlement money awarded to Rhode Island. No taxpayer dollars are being spent on the program, which is in a pilot phase until March of 2026. It remains to be seen whether the state makes it permanent.
While Marshall is a proponent of harm reduction centers, he said he’s committed to reporting on whatever he and his team discover.
“We are not working directly with Project Weber/RENEW or the operator in New York City. This is an independent evaluation,” Marshall said.
Rhode Island saw a more than 7 percent drop in fatal overdoses last year compared to 2022. Marshall said there are similar signs across the country.
“Nationally, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, we’re seeing pretty sustained significant reductions in overdose deaths,” Marshall said. “So this could be the beginning of the turn of the epidemic. If we continue investing in programs that work, that are evidence-based, I think we could finally be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak.”
