Augusta Originally published in Castine Patriot, March 17, 2022 and Island Ad-Vantages, March 17, 2022 and The Weekly Packet, March 17, 2022 House gives initial approval to McDonald bill to expand access to syringe exchange services

The Maine House gave initial approval March 9 to a proposal by Rep. Genevieve McDonald (D-Stonington) that would prevent the spread of preventable infections by allowing syringe exchange programs to provide Mainers affected by substance use disorder with additional sterile supplies. The vote was 77-54.

As amended, LD 1909 would allow the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to increase by rulemaking the number of sterile hypodermic apparatuses that may be provided by a syringe exchange program. Under current state regulations, syringe exchange programs are only allowed to distribute one sterile syringe for every syringe returned.

According to the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine had the second highest rate of acute hepatitis B and 10th highest rate of hepatitis C in the nation in 2017. Research shows that syringe exchange programs are effective in reducing the spread of HIV and hepatitis C infections and also save taxpayer dollars that would otherwise be spent treating and combatting the spread of these preventable diseases.