This week, Idaho's Republican Governor Brad Little signed HB 617 into law. The bill repeals Idaho's five- year- old law that permits harm reduction organizations to operate syringe services programs (SSPs), also called "needle exchange" programs. Idaho becomes the first state to retrogress from the growing trend among US jurisdictions to embrace harm reduction. Lawmakers cited concerns that SSPs enable people to use illicit drugs and grumbled that there is not enough evidence SSPs entice people with substance use disorder to enter rehab programs. Of course, advocates of SSPs never touted them as a means of bringing people into addiction rehab programs. While people operating SSPs often connect their clients to rehab and other social services, their raison d'etre has always been to reduce the spread of HIV, hepatitis, and other infections. On that, SSPs have an outstanding record. In addition to distributing clean syringes, SSPs also hand out bleach and other materials for users to clean their equipment and, in recent years, began giving out the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. By getting more naloxone into users' hands, SSPs will hopefully help reduce overdose deaths.
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