Ohio House Dems introduce needle-exchange bill
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Local health departments would have authority to create needle exchanges, providing a place for drug addicts to turn in dirty syringes for clean ones, under legislation being introduced by Democrats in the Ohio House.
Comparable programs already exist in Cleveland and Portsmouth.
“It’s been highly successful,” Rep. Mike Foley, a Democrat from Cleveland and a primary sponsor of the bill, said of the Cleveland effort.
“It’s been successful in doing needle exchanges, diminishing the amount of diseases but also getting people off of drugs and getting people health care that they need,” he added.
Foley offered comments on the bill Tuesday during a press conference at the Statehouse, where he and other lawmakers and AIDS advocates voiced their support for increased funding for Ohio’s HIV Drug Assistance Program, which provides medication to needy residents.
More than 400 Ohioans are currently on a waiting list for support through the program.
Democratic lawmakers also are supporting the potential expansion of needle exchanges as part of efforts to decrease disease transmissions.
Under existing state law, mayor and city councils in communities must declare public health emergencies before establishing the exchanges.
“We think that there’s public health emergencies around HIV and intravenous drug use and blood-borne diseases ... due to needle exchanges all throughout the state,” Foley said.
“However, this is a political decision that’s hard sometimes for mayors and city council to make that decision saying that there’s a need for a needle- exchange program,” he added.
Under legislation being offered by Foley and Rep. Nickie Antonio, another Cleveland-area Democrat, public health departments would be able to make the health emergency declarations and start exchange programs, allowing addicts to trade used syringes for an equal number of new ones.