Josh is 24 years old, and his life is in shambles. Daily injection drug use has left him a pale and skinny remnant of his former self. He knows the drugs are destroying him, but he can’t stop. When a craving hits, he is willing to use anything to get the drug into his system, even a used needle from a stranger — which can be contaminated with HIV or hepatitis.
“I’m going to be sick either way,” Josh said. “One way, I feel like dying, and the other way I do die.
“I’d rather die, myself.”
Thanks to a local needle exchange program, Josh, who declined to give his last name, does not have to make that decision anymore.
Several times a week, the SANA Needle Exchange’s white van goes to areas in the community frequented by high-risk injection drug users to help people like Josh, and in turn, help the community as well.
Volunteers work out of the van exchanging dirty needles for clean ones, dispensing condoms, offering basic first-aid and referring willing clients to drug treatment centers.
“SANA Needle Exchange acts as a stepping stone to all other services because we go out there and meet them on the street,” SANA spokeswoman Sharon Chamberlain said.
Chamberlain said the program helps people who can’t afford help anywhere else and allows people to get clean needles from someone other than a pharmacist. Pharmacists often mistreat drug users, she said, or refuse them service, which can lead the person to use a dirty needle.
“These are disenfranchised people who can come and not feel threatened or judged,” Chamberlain said.
The needle exchange is in its fourth year in Lane County and has been very successful. According to Chamberlain, federal grants and community support for the program grew 67 percent over the last fiscal year.
Sacred Heart Medical Center is one of the program’s biggest local supporters. Chamberlain said the support probably comes from the mutually beneficial relationship. By funding the needle exchange (which decreases the amount of new AIDS/hepatitis cases), Sacred Heart lowers its overall treatment costs.
Not only is the needle exchange beneficial for injection drug users and the medical business, but SANA said it’s good for the community as well.
“Last year, we exchanged more than a quarter of a million needles — and that’s a quarter of a million needles that are not in our parks or playgrounds,” Chamberlain said.
Over the years, opposition to needle exchange programs has arisen because of the theory that they would increase injection drug use; however, several studies, including one done by the American Institute of Health in 1997, found that programs like the needle exchange do not increase use or persuade people to start doing drugs.
“We’re not encouraging them to do drugs, we’re encouraging them to be safe,” said Sara Hemmingsen, a 21-year-old volunteer at the exchange. Hemmingsen said that if SANA didn’t help these people, no one would.
The SANA Needle Exchange goes out four times a week. The van can be found 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays at the end of Blair Boulevard near First Avenue. From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, the van is located under the bridge across the river from Day Island Park. Clients can also go to the HIV Alliance, 1966 Garden Road, from 3 to 5 p.m. Fridays.