— At an unassuming storefront on a busy Brooklyn street, people sign up to use a bathroom outfitted to try to curb an overdose crisis.

Waiting his turn, a man named Robert is frank about why he's there, instead of one of the stairwells, parks, rooftops or porches where he has used heroin in the past.

As communities debate trying to stem overdose deaths by allowing safe havens for people to take heroin and other narcotics, places like this needle exchange program are quietly providing a model of sorts: bathrooms monitored by intercom, so someone can intervene to stop an overdose.

In Baltimore, Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen says taking steps toward an injection site without federal approval could jeopardize funding that the city can't afford to lose.

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