WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The Indiana Recovery Alliance, which started its needle exchange program in February of this year, is expanding its services into Lawrence County starting tomorrow. The Alliance was also recently re-approved by the state to continue the needle exchange program in Monroe County for another year. Needle exchange programs provide drug users with clean needles and prevent the spread of Hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases. Counties like Fayette County in Indiana have seen drastic drops in rates of Hepatitis C just two years after beginning needle exchange programs.
Chris Abert, the founder of the Indiana Recovery Alliance, says that Indiana law prevents his organization from having an even further reach in the state. Despite the needle exchange programs, he notes that possession of a syringe is still a felony: “Technically, I could be arrested right now for distributing syringes that people intend to use for illicit drugs. Technically our participants could be arrested; but we need a change in the law. Honestly, if the legislators would decriminalize syringes, we could do a lot more work and have a lot bigger effect.”
In order to establish a needle exchange program, a county must declare a public health emergency. If there is no longer a health crisis, then the needle exchange program will no longer be allowed to operate. That means counties like Fayette County, which have seen a significant drop in the numbers of Hepatitis C cases in the last year, are at risk of losing their needle exchange program.
Abert talks about the law: “The law says that there has to be a Hepatitis C epidemic for approval for a needle exchange. That means that once the numbers coming in show a decrease in Hepatitis C at a certain level, we will no longer be allowed to do needle exchange. So if we do a good job, we will not be allowed to continue the work; and then everyone will be at risk for the Hepatitis C epidemic to re-emerge. It’s reactive, never preventative. I think that something that shouldn’t be lost is that Hepatitis C is a lead indicator for likelihood of an HIV outbreak. So it’s not just Hepatitis C. It’s also preventing an HIV outbreak.”
Since the needle exchange program’s inception in February, the Indiana Recovery Alliance has served around six hundred different people, in addition to providing thousands of Naloxone kits, the drug which is used to reverse the effects of an opoid overdose, and housing to many other people in the county.