Prosecutor urges against needle exchange

MUNCIE, Ind. — Delaware County Prosecutor Jeffrey Arnold urged county officials Tuesday to oppose any efforts to organize a local needle exchange program, saying he believed the effort to cut down on HIV infections was outweighed by the introduction into the community of more needles and tools to cook and use heroin.

Arnold showed members of Delaware County Council in their meeting Tuesday morning a bag of supplies distributed in neighboring Madison County. Contents of the needle exchange kit included hundreds of fresh needles, condoms, saline for use in injections, small heroin "cookers" with twist-tie handles and a bio-hazard container for used needles, which Arnold said was the only positive item in the bags.

"This is enabling," Arnold told council members about the kits. "There are only two things missing: heroin and a lighter."

Delaware County, like much of Indiana, has seen increasing heroin use in recent years. The practice of heroin users sharing needles has led to HIV outbreaks in parts of the state and some counties, like Madison and Wayne counties, have implemented needle exchange programs to combat HIV and Hepatitis C.

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Council members expressed shock at some of the items Arnold took out of the bag to display to them. "Gee!" council president Ron Quakenbush exclaimed. Council members unanimously authorized attorney William Hughes to draft a resolution opposing a needle exchange, which Arnold said might be proposed by the county health department or "a citizen."

Sheriff Ray Dudley and Emergency Management director Jason Rogers said they supported Arnold in his opposition to a needle exchange. Rogers said the community sees "one to three" overdoses each day, "which is down from a couple of months ago."

Arnold maintained that more needles, which he said are distributed in Madison County in quantities of 100 or 200, will lead to more heroin use.

The prosecutor cited last fall's report from the Governor's Task Force on Drug Enforcement, Treatment and Prevention, which noted that while needle sharing declined declined 85 percent between visits to needle exchange centers, "participants also reporting injecting drugs more often between their first and latest trips to the exchange, with the median injection frequency rising from five to nine times a day," according to the report.

Arnold said an increase in heroin use would lead to, among other repercussions, more crime like theft.

During the meeting, Arnold cited House Bill 1438, which allows counties to implement needle exchange programs. He said that the programs can be effective in curbing the spread of HIV but would increase heroin use.

"I'm urging you to send a message ... that we don't support this," the prosecutor said to council members.

Contact Keith Roysdon at 765-213-5828 and follow him on Facebook and  Twitter.