Overdose Crisis Brings Advocates to Springfield (Springfield, IL) — Today, the Illinois Harm Reduction & Recovery Coalition (IHRRC) brought together scores of advocates from across Illinois in response to the lack of urgency around necessary policy solutions proven to decrease overdose deaths. According to the CDC, nearly 4,000 Illinoisans died from an overdose in 2022, the equivalent of 10 people daily. People in self-defined recovery (including people who use drugs), families who have lost loved ones, peer harm reduction providers, religious leaders, treatment professionals, public officials, and more are contributing to Harm Reduction Week of Solidarity. Legislators will be able to learn from an on-site model demonstration of an overdose prevention site tent and mobile harm reduction outreach vehicles.

IHRRC commends the legislators leading the way to authorize a pilot overdose prevention site (OPS) in Chicago through House Bill 2/Senate Bill 78, led by sponsors Representative La Shawn K. Ford and Senator Sara Feigenholtz. The legislation has garnered support from Representatives Kelly Cassidy, Will Guzzardi, Anna Moeller, Senators Robert Peters, David Koehler, and Kimberly Lightford, and more than 24 co-sponsors. Yet, regardless of widespread support, IHRRC is dismayed that the General Assembly has failed to advance this commonsense and lifesaving policy.

“Despite decades of supportive data, hundreds of conversations with legislators, and impactful events like August’s Overdose Awareness Day Rally spirited by the courageous Angel Moms, stigma among legislators is delaying necessary public policy changes. It has been frustrating that legislators have limits to the type of life-saving harm reduction interventions they are willing to support. Sitting out on OPS is the equivalent of supporting safe driving without voting for texting restrictions or safe sex without funding condom distribution. We are talking about human beings – our friends, family, and neighbors,” said Jennifer Nagel-Fischer, Director of The Porchlight Collective in Madison County and a person with lived and living experience.

Overdose prevention sites are evidence-based health resource centers where people can use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of trained staff. OPSs save lives, save money, and keep communities safe. They reduce the risk of harm related to drug use, including fatal overdose and HIV/Hepatitis C transmissions, and provide health services to people who use drugs, including medical assistance, counseling, case management, referrals to community services, education about safer use techniques, and much more.

IHRRC also aims to address the gross underfunding of harm reduction services impacting this sector’s workforce. The unsustainable structure further jeopardizes communities experiencing immense loss of life and trauma due to overdose deaths. “Harm reduction is a frontline intervention meeting people where they are and embracing them with compassion and community. To detrimental effects, harm reduction has been left out of the healthcare continuum of care and reimbursement-based service models and has taken a back seat to abstinence-only strategies. To end this crisis, we must fund harm reduction,” says Dr. Tanya Sorrell, IHRRC’s Co-Chair and Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.

Aces Lira, Manager of Policy & Advocacy with AIDS Foundation Chicago, said, “Addressing the overdose crisis demands a comprehensive public health response and is crucial to achieving our statewide goal of ending HIV transmissions outlined in the Illinois Getting to Zero Plan. As we confront this challenge, we recognize a concerning pattern where progress is hindered by stigma toward people who use drugs. We stand united with harm reduction advocates statewide, who courageously share their personal stories with legislators. Together, we will pave the way for proven interventions like an Overdose Prevention Site to become a reality.”

Overdose Crisis Brings Advocates to Springfield

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