Barriers
What are the barriers to overdose prevention centers in the United States?
Barriers to implementing supervised consumption services fall mainly in the following categories:
- Policy: While there isn’t any legislation that explicitly states OPCs aren’t legal, several federal and state policies have been interpreted to imply that those operating the facilities or those accessing services may be at risk.
- Misinformation: There is a lot of misinformation about OPCs (“Won’t OPCs bring people who use drugs to my community? Doesn’t it just encourage drug use?”) that has been disproven or isn’t rooted in evidence, but continue to fuel opposition to OPCs.
- Sustainability: Like any service, funding and support is needed to have adequate support to operate.