Overdose-Prevention Site Bill Heads to Gov. Scott’s Desk

Drug reform advocates celebrated Tuesday’s passage of a bill that would allow Vermont to establish its first center for people to safely use illegal drugs.

Members of the House signed off on changes to H.72 that their Senate colleagues approved last week. The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott, who has signaled he’ll veto it. Legislative leaders say they expect to have the votes to override Scott’s opposition.

The bill instructs the Vermont Department of Health to set guidelines for an overdose-prevention site by September, after which one could open, most likely in Burlington.

“What we have right now is unsafe injection sites all over the state,” said Grace Keller, a former program coordinator at Howard Center, following final passage of the bill.

The original draft of the bill called for two sites to open, using money from a new tax on prescription drugs. But subsequent versions cut the $2 million for the pilot program in half and designates a different source for the funds: revenues Vermont got from legal settlements with opioid makers and sellers. Burlington leaders, including newly elected Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, have expressed strong support for such a center as a way to help the Queen City address a recent surge in overdoses. Where — and when — one would open is still unclear.

At the Statehouse on Tuesday, Rev. Elissa Johnk, lead minister at First Congregational Church of Burlington, recalled finding people who were high in the bushes outside her church on Easter Sunday, giving sermons as ambulance sirens wailed and officiating the burials of overdose victims.

“Not having an overdose-prevention center means we are asking the rest of us — store clerks, librarians, office managers, shop owners — to be counselors and medics and cleaners,” Johnk said. “Not having an overdose-prevention center puts the burden on all of us, and we are not able to hold it.”

She added that the heartbreak of Burlington residents being unable to help those suffering from addiction was a form of “moral injury.”

“It’s a betrayal of the values and morals that we all claim to hold,” she said.

The bill provides broad protection from liability for center staff who help people use drugs or prevent overdoses. It also calls for officials to track whether the center helps reduce deaths, gets more people into drug treatment and reduces litter from discarded needles.

Ed Baker, a retired drug counselor and tireless advocate for progressive drug policies, praised lawmakers for recognizing the urgency of the overdose crisis and moving up by a year the date by which the health department would need to establish operational guidelines.

No service provider or location has been selected, but Baker said city leaders are already considering how to speed up the permitting process for such a center.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on May 8, 2024 to note that the proposed funding source in the legislation has changed.

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