New York City Opens Supervised Drug Consumption & Overdose Centers

On November 30, 2021, the New York City Department of Health announced that it opened the first two Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) in the United States that provide a supervised injection consumption site for illegal drugs. One OPC is in Washington Heights, and the other is in East Harlem. The OPCs are operated by OnPoint NYC, a new entity formed by a merger between New York Harm Reduction Educators and Washington Heights CORNER Project.

The OPCs are an extension of the city’s existing harm reduction services, such as syringe exchange and administration of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses. The . . .