Focus on Harm Reduction and Saving Lives

Friends - 
In Vermont and across the country, we’ve seen an increase in overdose deaths. With the increased prevalence of fentanyl, and the isolation people have experienced during the pandemic, many of us have experienced this kind of loss firsthand, or know someone close to us who has. We can’t continue to do business as usual with this level of death and loss. Prevention-only approaches and criminalization are simply not working to save the lives of people who are currently at risk of overdosing.

We need other strategies that recognize people’s humanity, whether they are seeking treatment or not. We need to focus on harm reduction, and on saving lives. We are still dealing with the impacts of the war on drugs which created a stigma that has been one of the biggest barriers to understanding people’s struggles. Wanting people to live is the beginning, as we work to focus on the solutions that will have the greatest impact.

Some of the work that’s been done this session includes H.728 An act relating to opioid overdose response services. This bill provides resources to emergency response personnel so that they will be able to refer people to treatment, especially after an overdose. This bill also updated the statute on drug paraphernalia - items from harm reduction sites are not considered paraphernalia so that people who are actively using, but seeking safe ways to do so, will not be criminalized. H.728 also creates several pilot programs such as a mobile methadone hub, a bridge program for people who are currently incarcerated or otherwise involved with the justice system to get connected to recovery and treatment services across the state, an overdose prevention site working group, and expanded criteria for syringe services to make these services available in more places.

H.711 is a bill that Creates an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee that will work to determine how settlement money can be best and most effectively used. As we receive opioid settlement money for the next 18 years, we’ll be able to fund new programs and approaches, such as the pilot programs in H.728.

H. 505 is a drug reclassification bill that modestly reduces fines and penalties for drug crimes. H.505 also creates a Drug Use Standards Advisory Board made up of people with lived experience, treatment providers, harm reduction service providers, substance disorder researchers, and an expert on medication assisted treatment programs. The board is tasked with making recommendations to the legislature both on personal use amounts for drugs and how to transition from a criminal justice approach to a public health approach to addressing drug possession. Earlier this year, the Council of State Governments looked at racial disparities in sentencing in Vermont’s criminal-legal system and suggested that one of the most effective tools to reduce disparities is minimizing or eliminating drug possession penalties—a strategy that has been proven to work elsewhere.

All three of these bills are currently making their way through the Vermont Senate.

In this year's budget seven million dollars have been re-allocated from the Governor’s proposed budget to put our focus on the prevention of death from overdoses. This means that the money and our attention is focused on saving lives, not merely to educate and raise awareness, and certainly not to criminalize. For people already using drugs this means we want to help you stay alive, and reduce your risk of overdose. Prevention of death is the bottom line in all of these efforts.

Progressives in the Media:

Rep. Taylor Small: Scott signs bill allowing Vermonters to amend their birth certificates to reflect gender identity - VTDigger