Burlington City Council to study needle exchange program

Burlington City Council to study needle exchange program

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Garbage in a Burlington parking lot - FILE: MATTHEW ROY ©️ SEEN DAYS

  • File: Matthew Roy ©️ Seven days
  • Garbage in a parking lot in Burlington

As Burlington grapples with a worsening drug crisis, city council members are looking for ways to address one of its most visible symptoms: syringe litter.

Burlington city councilors on Monday unanimously approved a permit it asks the city’s health department to investigate the problem of improperly disposed needles, including whether a long-term needle exchange program is working as intended.

City Councilman Evan Litwin (D-Ward 7), lead sponsor of the resolution, said the study is a step toward addressing safety concerns among care workers, landscapers and garbage haulers who are at risk of needle sticks. He noted that several city agencies, including the Parks Commission, have begun investigating needle disposal in other cities.

“What we’re hoping to achieve here is to centralize a lot of the good work that’s already being done,” Litvin said. “I know our mayor, my progressive colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, all want to see a clean, safe Burlington.”

Seen as a barometer of the city’s drug crisis, needle litter has caused concern in Burlington. From 2012 to 2020, the city’s SeeClickFix app counted about 40 complaints a year about discarded needles. This number will increase to 300 in 2021 and 750 in the first nine months of 2023.

Most of the needles in Burlington come from the Howard Center Safe Recovery syringe exchange program, which distributes 20,000 clean needles a month. Such programs have been proven to help curb the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. But Howard Center officials have seen fewer needles being returned in recent years, according to the resolution, which Litvin believes is worth investigating.

The resolution directs the health department to study whether Burlington’s current syringe exchange could be improved, perhaps by mirroring programs in other cities, such as Boston. There is an offer offers payment and job training to people with substance use disorders who spin dirty needles. Such a buyback initiative has been approved last week City council members in Portland, Maine.

Celia Bird, who chairs the Burlington Board of Health, supported the resolution at the meeting’s public forum.

“It addresses the significant impact of substance use disorders in our community. “This is a real and pressing issue that affects all members of our community in one way or another,” he said. “We know we can do more.”

The board’s study will come back to council in February 2025.

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