House extends pilot for supervised consumption sites to 2028 after heated debate

PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island House of Representatives voted 51-17 on April 1, 2025, to extend a pilot program for supervised consumption (harm-reduction) centers through Jan. 31, 2028, and to require a report from the director of the Department of Health and the attorney general on whether the program should continue.

The extension, carried in House Bill H 5171 (sub A), was amended on the floor to change the sunset date from 2026 to 2028 and to add specific reporting items, including the number of people served, the number connected to health services, and data on overdoses or deaths associated with the centers. The amendment passed 68-1; the final amended bill passed 51-17.

Supporters described the sites as a public-health intervention that keeps people alive and connects them to treatment. “About 35 different individuals have gone to the place near Rhode Island Hospital and used their drugs,” Representative Gregg M. Edwards said on the floor. “And there have been 22 interventions. That means people overdosed. And the staff had to bring them back.” Edwards, the bill sponsor, told colleagues the sites also provide “wrap-around services” and referrals into treatment.

Opponents argued the centers enable illegal drug use and can concentrate crime and disorder in surrounding neighborhoods. “I stood up here the day that these were created, and I spoke against these state-sanctioned opium dens,”…