MAINE, USA — Lawmakers and recovery advocates are continuing work in Maine to provide additional resources to those battling addiction. On Tuesday, the Church of Safe Injection opened its first Syringe Services Program in Lewiston.
"We're just trying to keep people safe in case one day they do decide to find their way into recovery, they can do it healthily without having barriers," Kari Morissette, the executive director of the Church of Safe Injection, said.
The location, at 195 Main St., will provide safe injection supplies to community members with addiction including syringes, alcohol pads, naloxone, referrals for HIV and Hepatitis C testing, housing case management, and educational information about wound care and recovery resources.
The Church of Safe Injection was founded by recovery advocate Jesse Harvey, who started by handing out clean syringes from his car to help keep drug users safe, despite it being illegal.
Harvey also helped found Journey House, a network of sober houses in Southern and Central Maine that allow medication-assisted treatment.
Harvey himself struggled with addiction and died of a suspected overdose in 2020. Since then, his legacy has continued, and the Church of Safe Injection received certification from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to operate a syringe services program.
On Tuesday, Harvey's mother, Catherine Nash, was on hand for the opening of the site.
"This is where his vision and his dream came to fruition, and I couldn't be prouder," Nash said.
The Church of Safe Injection also plans to open Syringe Services Programs in Westbrook, Bethel, Rumford, and Dixfield.
Resources for those battling addiction are not just being discussed in those communities, however. It's happening in the State House too.
On Tuesday, the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee held a public hearing on LD 1909, a bill that looks to reduce restrictions on syringe service programs across the state.
"It allows registered participants to receive the care and supplies they need to help prevent life-threatening diseases and lifelong illnesses," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Genevieve McDonald, D-Stonington.
The bill would eliminate a rule placed on these programs that requires that all syringes distributed be exchanged for used syringes. This is commonly referred to as "one-for-one" needle exchange.
If passed, these programs could distribute clean needles to all those who participate in the needle exchange program, regardless of whether they present a used needle.
During Tuesday's public hearing, more than a dozen people spoke in support of the bill.
York County Sheriff William King said he worried the program could lead to increased needle waste.
Portland Mayor Kate Snyder testified on behalf of the Portland City Council's Legislative Committee neither in support nor opposition to the effort.
Snyder said it is important to increase support of those battling addiction, but she said she is concerned with the current number of needles being found in the city.
"Portland residents regularly encounter needles on the shoreline, in parks, on trails, and on the sidewalks," Snyder said. According to Snyder's testimony, in 2021, city staff collected a total of 10,602 needles, only about 55% of which were disposed of properly. The remaining 45%, roughly 4,750 needles, were found in public spaces.
McDonald said she plans to introduce an amendment to the bill that would allow the Maine CDC to "limit the number of hypodermic apparatuses provided by a certified exchange through major substantive rule-making."
This amendment has not formally been submitted, though. A work session on LD 1909 is expected in the coming weeks.