Making Syringe Services Work in Red States
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Featuring
[Moderator] Jessica Shortall, Manager, Safer From Harm Coalition, R Street Institute
Stacey McKenna, Resident Senior Fellow, Integrated Harm Reduction, R Street Institute
Marc Burrows, Director, Challenges Inc (South Carolina)
Theresa Davis, Executive Director, North Idaho AIDS Coalition (Idaho)
Col. Thomas W. Synan Jr., Chief of Police, Newtown Police Department (Ohio)
Overview
Syringe services programs (SSPs), once known as “needle exchanges,” are one of the oldest and most evidence-based forms of harm reduction. By providing sterile syringes to people who inject drugs, SSPs prevent the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C; build trust with people who use drugs; and create deep community linkages with health care, counseling, recovery, and other essential services.
SSPs deliver short- and long-term value to people’s lives as well as to public health, communities, first responders, and public budgets. Numerous states have authorized SSP operations in various ways, but there is more work to be done. In many states, SSPs are alive and well; in others, they operate in a legal gray area. And some states still have not authorized SSPs to provide these life-saving services and tools.
Join us for an online discussion about the current status and potential future of syringe services programs in red states.
About the Speakers
Marc Burrows, MSW, LMSW, CPSS, is a person in long-term recovery and drug user health advocate in Greenville, SC. He is the founder of South Carolina’s first Syringe Service Program “Challenges Inc”, and practices counseling with MAT/MOUD. Marc blends his lived experience and education to promote a person-centered approach and create change within the addiction treatment landscape.
Theresa Davis is the Executive Director at North Idaho Alliance of Care (NIAC). Theresa has been with NIAC for six-years. She holds a master’s degree in public administration, and another in adult education. Theresa is a certified professional in advanced wellness coaching, and a tobacco treatment specialist. She spent 20-years as a program manager/director at Eastern Washington University (EWU) and two-years as a program manager at Spokane Community College (SCC). She has been awarded for her work with the LGBTQ+ community and providing excellent customer service. Theresa leads the Idaho Coalition for Health Equity.
Chief Thomas Synan Jr. is a United States Marine Corps veteran, a 30-year police veteran, a 10-year SWAT veteran, and the Police Chief with the Newtown, Ohio Police Department. In 2014, after watching the last of an entire family die from drugs, Chief Synan helped form the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition. He coordinates law enforcement efforts to reduce supply and works with other members to help reduce demand. Chief Synan’s career with the opioid crisis has been recorded and archived in the National Law Enforcement Museum in Washington D.C. He has been able to see all the ways that addiction touches lives and all the efforts it takes to help individuals, families struggling with addiction and the impact on communities.