New syringe law hailed as 'transformative step' in addressing overdose crisis - mainebeacon.com
As of Monday, possession of a certain number of hypodermic syringes in Maine is no longer punishable with criminal penalties—a move that harm reduction advocates say will help stem the drug overdose crisis and turn the state away from failed “War on Drug” policies.
The law, passed in June, also allows a person to possess syringes that contain residual amounts of drugs without being charged with possession. Previously, possessing 11 or more hypodermic syringes, even when unused, could have resulted in a crime punishable with up to 354 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,000.
“Most Mainers agree that punitive drug laws don’t work and people who use drugs need access to safety, not criminal punishment, stigma, and heightened risk of illness and death due to preventable illnesses,” said Whitney Parrish, policy and advocacy director with Health Equity Alliance. “We need a public health response to a public health crisis, and this law is a transformative step toward rejecting our failed responses to drug use, rooting policies in pragmatism and what works, and decriminalizing safety—and people who use drugs.”
According to HEAL, which among other things provides harm reduction services to Mainers who use drugs, fear of criminal penalties is a major deterrent for people to utilize syringe exchanges and other programs that prevent the reuse and improper disposal of needles.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that access to syringe service programs reduces hepatitis C and HIV infection rates by almost half. Maine has consistently had a higher rate of hepatitis C infection than the national average.
Maine is also currently on pace to surpass the record number of drug overdose deaths in 2020, when 504 individuals died of an overdose.
“We know that having laws in place that discourage the acquisition and use of clean needles increases the spread of infections and diseases like HIV and hepatitis and do not help people break free from an addiction,” sponsor Rep. Genevieve McDonald (D-Stonington) said in public testimony for the bill.
“We know that hypodermic needle laws push people away from treatment options and closer to dangerous situations,” McDonald added. “We want people to be able to seek out help, and hanging the prospect of a criminal record over someone’s head does not accomplish that goal.”
In addition to decriminalizing syringe possession, the Maine Legislature passed another law last session that reformed the state’s felony drug trafficking law, which was among the harshest in the country, and eliminated the legal disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine, which are essentially the same drug chemically.
Advocates say both laws are important steps to move the state away from a punitive, rather than compassionate, approach to the disease of substance use disorder.
Photo: In July 2019, harm reduction advocates protested the Maine’s harsh syringe possession law outside a government conference on the state’s overdose crisis. | Beacon
Lauren McCauley is Editor of Maine Beacon. Previously, she was a senior editor at Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times,and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk with her husband, two children, a dog and several chickens. Lauren can be reached at Lauren(at)mainebeacon.com.
source: https://mainebeacon.com/new-syringe-law-hailed-as-transformative-step-in-addressing-overdose-crisis/
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