A new Maine law has decriminalized hypodermic syringe possession.
According to our CBS13 news partners, before the law, if someone had more than 10 needles, they could face a fine up to $2,000 and nearly a year in jail.
“For us it’s a big win,” Church of Safe Injection Executive Director Kari Morissette said. Morissette argues this law, introduced as LD 994 by Rep. Genevieve McDonald (D-Stonington), will encourage people to dispose of needles properly.
“You see dirty needles on the street because you could be incarcerated for having too many,” Morissette said. “It’s going want to make people who are using, keep them in a safely stored container and come to Syringe Service Programs to dispose of them properly.”
Advocates for the measure say worries over jail time makes people turn to unsafe practices.
“It creates situations where they might reuse syringes. There might be HIV and Hepatitis C spread. So this is good for the community as well,” Health Equity Alliance Director of Policy and Advocacy Whitney Parrish said.
Because of previous law, some may have avoided needle exchange programs.
“The state puts all this money into these organizations to help offer safe supplies but if you get caught with them, you go to jail,” Morissette said.
Health Equity Alliance runs several of the state’s CDC-certified Syringe Services Programs, a place where people can get sterile hypodermic syringes, naloxone and fentanyl test strips. But even participants could face criminal repercussions if they had too many needles on hand.
“That is antithetical to our practices as syringe services,” Parrish said. “Some folks do think that if you limit the amount of syringes someone has, or you criminalize them, that people will just stop using drugs. And that is not what evidence shows.”
“What this law does is recognize that we really have to have our laws match what public health experts are saying is necessary,” ACLU of Maine Policy Director Meagan Sway said.
Under this law, used syringes with drug residue will no longer be considered criminal possession. Plus, items meant for safer drug use like testing strips won’t be listed as drug paraphernalia.
“You cannot punish your way out of substance use disorder,” Sway said. “Things like jails and prisons and criminal records create barriers to the things that people need to enter recovery.”
This law comes as 504 Mainers died from overdoses last year. Some are worried there could be just as many, if not more, in 2021.
“We focus a lot on prevention, we focus a lot on treatment, and we need to be focusing on harm reduction as well, ” Parrish said.
That means making sure people are healthy and safe to get the help they need when they want them, instead of pushing community members further away from supportive services and suffering in silence.
“This is just one step in the direction to saying like, ‘We understand, it’s ok and we’re here to help,’” Morissette said.
This law will take effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns, which is expected to happen sometime next week. That means it will likely start in mid-October.
