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Main navigation News Studies from other countries have shown that overdose prevention services reduce the number of overdose deaths reduce transmission rates of infectious disease and increase the number of individuals initiating treatment for substance use disorders without increasing drug trafficking or crime in the areas where the facilities are located. 1 American Medical Association By providing treatment and other services the supervised sites can lessen the risk that the next injection leads to another funeral and another shattered family. 2 Editorial Board The Philadelphia Inquirer More than 70000 people in the United States died from drugrelated overdoses in 2019. The nearly fourfold increase since 1999 fueled by the opioid epidemic underscores the need for new strategies rather than the failed punitive approach that has criminalized generations of Americans without dealing with their underlying problems.