Denver Council Approves Needle Exchanges Next to Schools, Day Care Centers
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Supporters of needle exchanges could distribute drug paraphernalia next to Denver schools and day care centers if mayor Mike Johnston signs an ordinance approved by the city council Monday night.
The Denver council voted 8-5 in favor of a bill that removes the three-site cap on the number of needle exchanges allowed in the city. The bill also strikes language from the municipal code that prohibits operating needle exchanges within 1,000 feet of elementary or secondary schools or day care centers.
The bill was sponsored by a couple of the council's most progressive members, Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, along with councilwoman Stacie Gilmore.
The sites provide illegal-drug users with clean needles and syringes to prevent the spread of diseases and provide a place for drug users to dispose of used paraphernalia. Some exchanges offer smoking pipes and overdose-reversal drugs, and addicts can also be offered counseling. Illegal drugs are not allowed to be injected at the exchange sites.
Councilman Darrell Watson, who voted against the bill because it eliminates the distancing requirement from schools, said residents in his district "have been clear" that "removing the distance restriction is something that they do not support," according to the Denver Gazette.
Council woman Amanda Sawyer said the experience that some residents and business owners have had with the two needle exchanges in her district haven't been positive, according to news reports.
"I can tell you that the in-person needle exchange program is a terrible neighbor," she said at a December meeting.
Supporters of the measure argue that people who utilize needle exchanges are more likely to seek treatment and get clean. Councilman Paul Kashmann, who voted in favor of the bill, clarified that "we're not talking about opening supervised injection sites," according to the Denver Post, but added "that discussion may come again at some point."
A Gazette editorial last week said the 1,000-foot buffer between needle exchanges and schools is "a standard feature of zoning codes in other cities and hardly is a lot to ask. Indeed, it's a modest restriction on a supposed community service that, by definition, serves people who are breaking the law."
The editorial adds that needle exchanges "shouldn't be tolerated at all," in part because they "make it easier for addicts to stay on a self-destructive path that likely will end in an overdose" and because spent drug debris will inevitably end up in the city’s parks and playgrounds.
Johnston, the mayor, has five days to sign or veto the bill. He has expressed skepticism about it. “We believe there is an adequate supply of needle exchange programs to meet the current demands,” his spokeswoman said recently in a statement to the media.
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