Myra Smith: "I feel powerless when it comes to this population." Myra Smith walked into the Wilson Library Branch with her mind made up about supervised substance use centers: ​“It is NOT coming to the Hill. It’s not.” She left with more openness to the concept as a way to address the opioid crisis that has overwhelmed her neighborhood. ​“I’m not saying I’m totally against it. This sounds wonderful,” she said — as long as it’s implemented with care for the surrounding community.Smith gathered along with over a dozen other community members in the Hill library branch on Tuesday evening for a workshop on the possibility of supervised injection sites — designated places where people can use high-risk substances such as opioids with medical supervision, with the ultimate goal of preventing overdoses and saving lives.The meeting was hosted by Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK), which has been researching the implications of a hypothetical supervised injection site in New Haven with help from Facente Consulting for the last year and a half.As DESK Executive Director Steve Werlin emphasized on Tuesday, the organization is not currently planning to open up a supervised injection site (also known as ​“overdose prevention centers” or ​“safe consumption sites”) in New Haven. “We really want to understand what the community thinks of this,” he said. He explained that amid the rise of the highly-potent synthetic opioid fentanyl, DESK staff have witnessed more and more overdoses among the primarily unhoused community members they serve. In New Haven, accidental or unsolved overdose deaths not determined to be intentional have more than doubled since before the pandemic, with 116 deaths in 2023. Fentanyl was found to be the most common culprit. While DESK has increased its own resources around substance use disorder, ​“it never feels like enough,” Werlin said. That’s why the organization is exploring the idea of a supervised injection site aimed at preventing more deaths.Supervised injection sites have become a flash point both in New Haven and across the country for debates about the ​“harm reduction” approach to public health. Harm reduction maintains that shaming or turning away people who engage in high-risk behaviors like sex work and drug use is not effective — that instead, organizations should offer tools that lower the risk of illness or death from those activities, such as condoms, clean needles, fentanyl-identifying strips, and the overdose-reversal drug naloxone (Narcan). When it comes to addiction, critics say that harm reduction doesn’t adequately push substance users toward sobriety. They argue that providing safer supplies ultimately normalizes drug use in the broader community.Meanwhile, advocates of harm reduction point to research that stigmatizing drug use can actually drive people further away from seeking help. They argue that so many people struggling with addiction are not ready or willing to accept treatment — and that the lives and wellbeing of those people are worth protecting regardless.The city supports the idea of ​“a harm reduction center” which ​“would save lives, and help people break the cycle of addition by connecting them to substance use treatment and other services and supports,” Mayor Justin Elicker wrote in a statement. “There would, of course, need to be very thoughtful planning and robust community conversation around any particular site,” Elicker wrote, ​“but New Haveners are a compassionate people who I’m confident would rally around a responsible, evidence-based approach to support some of our most vulnerable residents.” Smith, a resident of the Hill who works as the neighborhood services advocate at the local homelessness provider Christian Community Action, entered Tuesday’s meeting with tangible skepticism about supervised injection sites. She echoed concerns often raised in response to addiction-related proposals that New Haven’s social services tend to be concentrated in low-income neighborhoods like the Hill.She expressed worry that a supervised injection site would draw more dealing to an area already struggling with the drug trade. ​“It brings traffic to the neighborhood,” she observed, noting that substance users usually don’t want to travel too far to get high after obtaining drugs.“We want to help,” Smith said. ​“Right now, we are overwhelmed.”Supervised Injection As "Death Prevention"Attendee Carl Ferris. Over the course of the conversation, Smith listened to the suggestions and reactions of other participants, who were primarily enthusiastic about a supervised injection site.Facilitator Katie Burk of Facente Consulting suggested a rule against drug sales inside the facility, with consequences if that rule isn’t followed.Luz Catarineau Colville posited that a large empty space, like the site of the former ​“Tent City” encampment on the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, might be a good spot, relatively distant from residents and especially from schools. Roosevelt Watkins said the site should operate 24 hours a day, so that no one is kicked out to get high on the street.Participants emphasized the need for wraparound services, with public restrooms, laundry, mental health support, and financial literacy training alongside medical resources.Those services are great, noted one participant who identified himself as Mike, but ​“those are all buzzkills. There’d have to be something fun to do” — something like music, or colorful lights, he suggested.“I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have wanted none of that when I was tweaking,” interjected Watkins, who suggested a quiet, peaceful area.They came to a consensus that a center with multiple rooms with different atmospheres would be ideal.Facilitator Alixe Dittmore suggested that beyond providing for basic needs, offerings like acupuncture, massages, and aromatherapy could help create a sense among clients that ​“they’re not judging me when I get high.”Ultimately, Dittmore stated again and again, the goal of a supervised injection site would be ​“death prevention.”While she remained skeptical, Smith offered her own suggestions.If such a center comes to New Haven, Smith said, it should have an advisory committee of neighborhood residents to hold it accountable. And most importantly, it should be managed diligently, with strict enforcement to ensure that clients are using drugs inside — and not out in public, Smith said. If substance use ​“can be kept indoors… that would be totally awesome,” she said.Werlin jumped in. ​“Part of what I’m hearing is, ​‘don’t half-ass it,’” he said.“YES!” Smith exclaimed."They're Being So Desensitized"Roosevelt Watkins and Mike: How can the site serve different needs? The group came to a consensus that multiple small, indoor sites in areas currently struggling with lots of outdoor substance use would be better than one more centralized location. Many attendees on Tuesday spoke from personal experience about addiction. “I started using in grade school,” Mike said in a small-group discussion about personal experiences at the end of the meeting. “Addiction saved my life,” he added. ​“It just took too much from me, too.”Those words resonated with Watkins, who pointed out that many people cope by using drugs as an alternative to ending their lives.Smith described how living and working in the Hill has exposed her to the effects of the opioid crisis on a daily basis — providing her with a very different perspective from when she was younger and struggling with substance use.Smith had started out in the meeting feeling strongly against the idea of supervised injection, she reflected. ​“At the end of the day, it’s like, Myra, you was getting high! You didn’t want anyone to talk about you that way.”“I feel powerless when it comes to this population,” Smith added. ​“I’m concerned about our children. … They’re curious.”She described her interactions with the children at the Hill homeless shelter where she works, who ask her to explain what happened to people who have overdosed outside. Recently, she said, she saw some kids imitating some of the drug users in the neighborhood. They were joking around — and it worried her. ​“They’re being so desensitized to it,” she said.Werlin diligently jotted down notes from the dialogue on a large sheet of paper, where Smith and Mike and Watkins’ points joined dozens of bullet points.“I have lost too many people to count,” one of them read.If you are struggling with substance use, you are not alone. Local and national resources are available athttps://connectgnh.org/. The Drug Free CT treatment hotline is 1 – 800 – 563‑4086. The Never Use Alone hotline is 1 – 800 – 484‑3731. Research compiled by DESK-hired consultant Katie Burk on supervised injection sites.