MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Providence, Rhode Island, will soon open a state-sanctioned facility that allows people to use illegal drugs with medical supervision. Supporters say facilities like these prevent fatal overdoses, but they're not permitted under federal law. And the incoming Trump administration could bring new challenges. Nina Sparling with The Public's Radio has more.
NINA SPARLING: Dennis Bailer is showing me around the second floor of a brick building in Providence. We're in a new overdose prevention center run by a local nonprofit. Soon, people who use drugs will be able to come into this room to inject their drug of choice, knowing medical staff are watching over them.
DENNIS BAILER: So - and then, of course, we're going to have the injection booths back here.
SPARLNG: OK.
BAILER: We had to move everything, of course, for the - make the space clear. But we're going to have eight injection booths along this wall here.
SPARLNG: Rhode Island approved this kind of facility, called a supervised consumption site or overdose prevention center, a few years ago. And now the nonprofit Project Weber/RENEW is almost ready to open the first one in Providence. Supporters say preventing fatal overdoses is the first step towards getting people into recovery and treatment.
BAILER: The primary goal of the consumption space is to make sure people don't overdose and die.
SPARLNG: Last year, more than 400 people died of a drug overdose in Rhode Island. At first, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he was skeptical about opening a supervised consumption site in the city. He eventually warmed up to the idea, but understands why people might have questions about a state-approved place to use illegal drugs.
BRETT SMILEY: These are not statistics, but these are, in fact, our neighbors. These are our loved ones. These are our parents and friends and kids. And we don't have a chance to serve them if we lose them.
SPARLNG: The facility is the first in the country to be state regulated, but supervised consumption sites like this one are not allowed under federal law. Regina LaBelle of Georgetown University said they could be more vulnerable under the incoming Trump administration. A lot, she said, depends on who is appointed to serve as the next U.S. attorney in Rhode Island.
REGINA LABELLE: It's an open question as to whether or not a new U.S. attorney would challenge it on the basis of that federal law.
SPARLNG: Under the prior Trump administration, the Department of Justice sued a nonprofit in Philadelphia that was attempting to open a supervised consumption site. The facility is currently blocked from opening by a federal court. Last year, a federal prosecutor threatened to shut down two city-sanctioned supervised consumption sites in Manhattan. But Rhode Island could be in a little bit of a different position, LaBelle said.
LABELLE: The unique part of Rhode Island is that it was actual state legislation that passed and then rulemaking that occurred.
SPARLNG: Dennis Bailer with Project Weber/RENEW said he and others working in the harm reduction community are used to people challenging their work and their approach.
MARTIN: People who have been doing this work for years have always had challenges, and there's always been stigma and judgment involved. But we still - we fight through and we work through those challenges.
SPARLNG: Alongside medical supervision, the Providence facility will also provide drug testing equipment and clean supplies for using, to help reduce the spread of diseases like HIV and hepatitis C. People will also have the option to connect with recovery services on-site, as well as basic needs like food, clean clothes and a place to shower. The nonprofit expects to open its doors to the public in the next few weeks. For NPR News, I'm Nina Sparling in Providence, Rhode Island.
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