“Ha salvado muchas vidas”: primeros centros para prevención de sobredosis en los EE.UU. otorgan espacios seguros para personas en crisis

Espacios para consumo seguro de drogas permiten un manejo efectivo de la sobredosis y conectan a los participantes con recursos de apoyo. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

By Gloria Oladipo / The Guardian

Until recently, Ron M would take illicit drugs in what space he could find: public restrooms, subway alleyways or just in the street. He often used alone; the possibility of a fatal overdose was high.

That’s why the East Harlem overdose prevention center has been such a blessing to him.

“It’s saved many lives since it’s been here,” said Ron, 31. “It keeps us from having to get high in bad places.”

Ron, whose last name has been withheld for privacy, has used heroin for years, but the New York opening of the nation’s first two sanctioned overdose prevention centers (OPCs) on 30 November has significantly increased his chances of survival.

The center provides those who use substances with a safe and clean space to do so, and with help available in case of an overdose, which has already helped avert many deaths.

“This place is a blessing – and if there were more, it would save so many lives,” Ron said.