As Auburn considers adopting an ordinance on “syringe service programs” (SSP) that provide needles to drug addicts, the City Council held a public workshop Monday night to give residents an opportunity to weigh in on the program.
Not a single Auburn resident sounded happy about the prospect of facilitating intravenous drug use on their streets and in their neighborhoods, if the turnout at that meeting is any indication.
Rep. Quentin Chapman (R-Auburn) was the first member of the public to speak at the meeting, and he used his time to highlight the problems brought to neighboring Lewiston through their syringe programs.
“Before I ran for office the first time, I was on the lower part of Sabbatus Street, two thirty in the afternoon. There were some people doing the fentanyl fold. They had come back from the Church of Safe Injection SSP, and these kids, just getting out of school, had to weave by them, ” said Rep. Chapman.
“And that was sanctioned by the city council, and they handed out needles, and these kids had to interact with that. Doesn’t seem right, doesn’t seem fair; this is our town. I agree with treatment, but I think handing out needles and letting people get high is absolutely wrong,” he added.
He was far from the only resident disturbed at the prospect of bringing SSPs to the city.
“What I did not hear was how this improves the recovery of drug addicts, how does this improve, how does giving them tools of their demise, how does that improve their recovery,” asked former Auburn City Councilor Stephen Milks.
Rep. Laurel Libby (R-Auburn) attended to speak against the institution of SSPs as a local resident.
“I would advocate that the answer should be no. No needle exchange program, not what policies should we adopt, but a hard line in the sand,” said Rep. Libby.
She pointed to failures in the needle exchange programs of various cities across the state, including Lewiston.
“I don’t want us to turn into another Portland where there are needles everywhere,” she added.
Resident Selena Gothier also spoke out against the program, explaining that she works in Portland and has seen the negative results of the syringe program there.
“It doesn’t, you know, help the community by having people down there in the alleyways shooting up,” she said.
Every member of the public who attended and spoke during the public forum voiced strong opposition to allowing SSPs to operate and distribute needles in their community.
Auburn has been considering bringing an SSP ordinance to the city for months after placing a 6-month moratorium on SSP applications for the city. Currently, the city has no SSPs, but residents need only look across the river at Lewiston to see how they impact the community.
The Lewiston City Council voted in October to remove the 1:1 needle exchange rate, which required users to return one used needle in order to obtain a new one. Without that ordinance, a drug user can go into an SSP and receive up to 100 free needles without needing to exchange any, according to state law.
In September, Lewiston was forced to condemn the location of the Church of Safe Injection SSP after officials discovered thousands of needles scattered across the basement along with human feces. Law enforcement officers found evidence that people had been living and using drugs in the basement.
The SSP defended itself on social media, claiming that only hundreds of used needles, not thousands, were in its basement, and stated that it was only because of “systemic injustice” that drug addicts broke into their basement to shoot up.
