WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The Bloomington Common Council chambers are uncharacteristically full tonight.
Area residents filled the council chambers, in support for Monroe County’s needle exchange program, The Indiana Recovery Alliance.
IRA Founder and Director Chris Abert gave a statistically saturated presentation regarding the efficacy of syringe exchange programs. “You have a higher likelihood of getting hit by a meteor during a monsoon than getting a viral transmission from an improperly disposed syringe,” Abert said. “There has never been a case of someone contracting HIV from an improperly disposed syringe.”
Council member Allison Chopra asked Abert to give more information about a proposed piece of legislation the IRA is sponsoring in the 2019 Indiana Legislature. The proposed bill would reduce criminal charges on what is currently the felonious possession of a syringe.
Abert praised the Bloomington Common Council for their continued support of the IRA. Just last year, a Lawrence County Commissioner quoted the Old Testament in their reason for voting to suspend the Indiana Recovery Alliance’s needle distribution. Abert told the council continuing operations in Monroe County has contributed to the county’s 10 percent decrease in overdose deaths in 2017.
