While Arizonans continue to suffer amid a crisis of drug abuse and overdose, state lawmakers are working to snuff out a promising, cost-effective tool that has saved countless lives and enhanced public safety in communities around the world.

Overdose prevention centers, or OPCs, offer a safe place for people to use drugs under the supervision of a health care provider. Staff at OPCs are trained not only to reverse overdoses, but to connect people who use drugs to addiction treatment, testing kits and other resources that have been shown to reduce the risk of drug death. By providing an accepting environment, these sites are a point of stability for individuals who may not have consistent access to housing or other basic needs. The supportive setting of OPCs draws drug consumption away from public spaces, where it can be dangerous or disruptive, and makes participants more receptive to seeking treatment.

My law enforcement experience as a former deputy sheriff tells me that OPCs would be more effective than our current approach in Arizona, which typically involves arresting people for public drug use and trying, with very little success, to force them into treatment or sobriety. But instead of debating whether these facilities could benefit our state, lawmakers have introduced legislation to preemptively ban them.

Supporters of the bill, HB2798, have relied more on emotion than fact to make their case. During debate, lawmakers have spent little time discussing research on OPCs in the U.S. and abroad which shows that these services drive down public drug consumption, crime, and related emergency services responses. The legislation’s backers have also not acknowledged studies demonstrating that OPCs reduce the spread of HIV and other diseases. Perhaps most frustratingly, supporters of HB2798 appear to have ignored extensive data underscoring the effectiveness of OPCs in encouraging clients to engage with addiction treatment, which we should all support, regardless of politics. All of these results translate into better outcomes for individuals and significant taxpayer savings.

With little evidence on their side, opponents of OPCs have instead weaponized fear and stigma against the people most likely to die of overdose. It’s important to note that there are no OPCs currently operating in Arizona. Nor have there been concrete proposals to launch them. While some states have considered measures to establish OPCs in recent years, HB2798 is an extreme move in the opposite direction, which threatens to shut down debate before it can begin.

As a former law enforcement official, I understand the concerns about drug use and its impact on public safety. But whatever you may think about people who use drugs, I can say from experience that criminalization has not succeeded in keeping communities or individuals safe. For too long, our attempts to address drug use through enforcement have wasted police resources, diverting our focus away from violent crime and other serious threats to public safety. Despite our best efforts, this strategy has been overwhelmingly ineffective at improving public safety, helping people into long-term recovery, or reducing drug overdoses.

After decades of drug policy failures, some U.S. jurisdictions are now beginning to consider OPCs as a way to counter the harms of public drug use. New York City launched the nation’s first sanctioned OPCs in 2021, with data from their first year of operations showing a high degree of success at saving lives and engaging people who might otherwise use drugs in public. The two facilities have served thousands of clients with no overdose deaths. A 2024 study showed that they had diverted up to 39,000 instances of public drug use while helping around 75% of participants access supportive services. Rhode Island opened the state’s first OPC late last year, and Vermont is currently pursuing similar plans.

Amid rightful concern about public drug use and the thousands of overdose deaths Arizona suffers each year, it would be a mistake to outlaw a potentially valuable intervention due to an ideological disagreement. While I believe OPCs could save lives and mitigate many issues related to drug use and addiction, I would also welcome a rigorous debate about the potential risks and benefits before moving forward. HB2798 shuts the door on that conversation by preemptively banning OPCs based on weak or nonexistent evidence. This is a step backward that we can’t afford to take.

Former Deputy Sheriff Jay Fleming has been responsible for conducting narcotics investigations, drug buys and undercover duty as part of the Administration, Vice, Intelligence, Narcotics (ADVIN) Unit throughout his decades-long career in law enforcement.