Legal To Distribute Harm Reduction Kits To Opiate Addicts?

I am in need of some answers. Any legal help from someone experienced in 'law' would be lovely here. My Fiancee and I have wanted to distribute harm reduction kits to opiate users for a long time. By harm reduction kits, I mean clean needles for injection, cotton filters, clean tins/cookers to mix their opiate in, gloves, band-aids, bandages, tape and anything a drug user may need to stay safe and stay free of disease, minus the drug they are using.

Now, we would be asking for absolutely no assistance for this from the country, state, county or city whatsoever, it would be funded out of our own pockets and by donations from the general public and from sales from my arts and crafts I make. So that's not something we need to worry about. So far, we have the funding to put together 150 kits to start, which for my area is a lot. In order for a user to receive a second kit, they must return ALL sharps to be destroyed properly before they can get more.

I am wondering about the legality of this. Is it legal for me to distribute harm reduction kits containing syringes and etc to addicts? Would I be held responsible if something happened to the addict and I had provided the kit? Is it legal for me to mail these kits across state lines to addicts in need in other places? I need answers and accurate ones.

I already have 10 other individuals saying they will help monetarily and otherwise and I just briefly mentioned it. My area has NO needle exchange program, not enough funding for it they say but we can pay each day to house prisoners for minor drug possession and paraphernalia charges. I'd like to open my own sort of needle exchange but want it to be more than just that and need advice.

So my questions can be accurately answered, I live in West Virginia, about 25 miles from Morgantown, WV. Morgantown WV does have needle exchange but Preston County does not and that's where I am. I intend to include the following in the harm reduction kits (and likely things I've not thought of yet): New Needles, Alcohol Prep Pads, Hand Sanitizer, Band-Aids, Gauze, Tape, Exam Gloves, Bottled Water, Quick Release Tourniquets, Flashlight, New Mixing Tins, Filters, Box Matches or Lighter, Pamphlets for Proper Administration, Pamphlets for Hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS and other STIs and how they are contracted, brochures, pamphlets and cards from NAABT about addiction and treatment, a list of treatment resources in the addicts area accepting new patients and many other useful things. I want to provide information and encourage getting help, not just swap out old dirty needles.

If you know anything about the legality of this, please provide your feedback. Also, if you know if shipping this stuff is legal, let me know that too. I want to provide the kits to people all over the US not just in my area. Also, feel free to comment about whether you think this is a good idea or bad idea.

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I think you would have to contact your local Department of Health and find out what the regulations are and abide by those. I believe laws are going to be different in different cities and different states. For instance the city I live in here in New York has a clinic set up 3 days a week or anybody can go and get up to 600 free syringes as well as all the water alcohol prep pads condoms Sharps Containers Lube for sexual intercourse and anything else a street person or drug addict may need or someone who would be using needles would need. This would keep them from being sexually active with multiple partners and reusing needles and perhaps even sharing them with other folks. I think these needle exchange programs are a blessing in disguise. I know a lot of folks like to harp on them they say that they promote drug use but I would rather They promoted safe drug use than to have people running around reusing syringes destroying their veins their appearance and also spreading diseases. Not to mention the amount of litter specifically dangerous litter such as use needles that this will keep off the streets. What you are doing is an amazing thing being an ex- user myself I want to thank you for doing it. But yes that is where I would start is with your local Department of Health and if there's not much they can do just look up and see if there is a local needle exchange program in your area and go down and talk to one of the counselors or managers down there I'm sure that they would be more than happy to either have you work with them or to point you in the right direction to get you on your feet as an independent.

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Your energy and money seem to be directed in the wrong direction. Wouldn't it make more sense to seriously find out why folks take drugs? I have never understood this especially when it occurs in paradise. In NZ this has become a major problem. NZ, like most western countries, resembles paradise. Why do people want to self-destruct? Taking drugs is like a shortcut to enjoyment in life but there can never be a shortcut. You pay for it now or later. One needs to drum this into people.

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I think what your doing is admirable, especially inserting pamphlets about health issues concerning drug use. The user already knows this but you never know when one will look down at the needle and pamphlet and make a different choice. Maybe they are just tired of the life. I would first check with your state, then city or county laws, especially regarding shipping. I'm not positive but I'm fairly certain I read somewhere that last year maybe the year before that Las Vegas starting using vending machines to supply needles so that the user could help prevent the spreading of disease. I would do some research on your state and county. Call an attorney for a consultation? Hope this helps and GOD Bless you for this endeavor.

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I think what you want to do is honorable but I'd also make sure you included free clinics and rehab centers in each kit. The government has failed these people and most look down on them because they see them as degenerates or worthless. NO ONE chooses to become an addict. 99.999999% of drug addiction starts with doctors prescribing narcotic pain meds. Well, maybe not that high but maybe 75%, but if we don't do something, more people are going to die. However, I believe what you want to do is illegal but could be wrong. I'd check with your county as the laws vary county to county, state to state, etc. If not allowed, maybe you could change the law. Not providing this won't change a thing but doing this may save lives. I was addicted to pills at one time, never drugs that involved needles but I got blessed because that was my next step. I went into rehab by the grace of God because I had insurance that paid for it. Most do not. I hope you'll keep us updated and if legal, this could be something the Church could and should get involved in. After all, Jesus Christ came for the sinners and those the Pharisees thought of as untouchable. I'd be very interested in trying to get my church involved in this and maybe include some Spiritual and addiction counseling and make a real difference. God bless you for thinking of these people instead of standing on some moral high ground and demand rights for some crazy group. So few care about the poor, homeless and drug addicted. You are a blessing and blessed. You can write me back {edited for privacy} if you find any info, esp. on laws in Jax, Florida.

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Re: Margonot (# 2)


We all live on grace. God bless you with this endeavor. My good wishes and prayers are with you.

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Hello, and just FYI, you're awesome. I'm in recovery, I really dislike the word addict. Doing things like this gets a lot of push back. Like others that commented, I agree that offering clean needles to those who suffer is better than just ostracizing them. Also putting health information in the package is a must. Putting facilities that are taking new patients or programs that are open is a wonderful idea. How bout putting a list of NA/AA/MA meetings in the area and maybe the national drug abuse hotline. The approach the government and health departments are taking now is just not working. As I said I'm an addict..in recovery and I can say this... of the entire 20 plus years that I was in active use, I never for one second wanted to be that way. Nobody wants to be an addict, it's truly not a choice, there is no distinctive line you cross from casual/social use to becoming an addict. I support you 100% in this and would love to be a part of it. I too live in West Virginia but miles from your area. My closest recognizable city is Huntington WV. I believe there's a needle exchange here or at least close to here. Actually I think contacting dr's and clinics and rehab facilities that have openings and actually working out a referral program would be a game changer. Please keep us posted on your progress. I would contact the dhr and the local government to see what hoops you have to leap through to get this started. God bless and good luck. We're all rooting for you.

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Re: Margonot (# 2)

It's because doctors over-prescribed narcotics and then cut them off in a lot of the cases and w/d is so horrific and almost impossible to get off of without medical help but rehab centers are so expensive and cater to the rich. Most drug addicts can't afford a home much less insurance. Once one is cut off of legal drugs and can't w/d on their own, they go to street drugs and stronger drugs when they build up a tolerance. I don't think wanting to keep people healthy by providing safe drug paraphanalia is the ultimate answer but it's a quick fix to the health issue until we can help drug addicts get clean. We need doctors who are willing to take as much time as needed to wean people off, knowing that they will make mistakes but you can get off if in a controlled environment. You could live in utopia and have everything your heart desires but if you're lonely, hurt or depressed and a pill makes it better, you will take it. These people aren't worthless, they are caught up in a bad situation that crept up on them. As a woman of faith in God Almighty, a former pill abuser that still struggles to this day, drugs are pure evil. Pray for them and let's get them help and stop condemning/blaming them. No matter the cause, the answer is the same. Free rehab is a start and I don't mind paying a few dollars more in taxes to make sure it's available cos all of us are just one accident away from being one ourselves. Drugs don't care about age, race, sex, creed, national origin, bank account, fame, fortune or anything but takes whomever it wills.

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Re: Mel (# 5)

If we were to provide free, millions of harm reduction kits, how many of the 60,000 that die in the US every year from overdose would we save? That is the point. Harm reduction kits save some TEMPORARILY. Some recipients have been saved several times. Is there a cut off number? This problem is multifaceted. Its severity has multiplied because of fentanyl, cheap, easy to make, powerful, fast acting. No matter how illegal, as long as there is demand, and profit, someone will make it. Dealing the healing is to remove the demand, which one can not do unless one finds the reason for the demand.

Humans are a physical, emotional and spiritual makeup. God, our creator, gave us rules to live by, how to get along with each other. These are spiritual rules called the 10 commandments. Psychiatrist's label it as our conscience or alter-ego. Emotional is when I must have something but can't have it. Thus the Queen with all her power and resources said I won't be happy unless I am a top tennis player, who would have a problem. In fact she does have a problem. Her offspring whose behavior has affected her esteem of royalty. But here again we have to accept we cannot control others, only ourselves.

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Re: marginot (# 8)

I see it this way, if one life can be saved or one person can be kept from getting Hepatitis C or other diseases because someone provided harm reduction kits and clean needles, mission accomplished.

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Re: AmberWV304 (# 9)

Unfortunately mission is not accomplished.Fund are not unlimited.Sufferers are notlikely to access these kits for the same reason they become addicts in the first place-looking for a short cut to solve a problem that have limited options.People still inject themselves in stairways that is only 1 block away from a safe injection site

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You need to contact your local substance abuse organization. If you do not have one in your area. Look into getting an appointment with your Mayor, Police Chief or Fire Chief. You will also need to find an attorney in your area that can research state, county and city laws. Whatever you do. Do Not Depend On Any Legal Advice You Receive From The Internet.

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Re: AmberWV304 (# 9)

Don't get discouraged by negative opinions, there's alot of the " let them die" or " you can't help a junkie" opinions around. Point being I don't see a line of people trying to help this problem, but you sure get a long list of opinions , long before fentanyl and pill mill there was a drug problem and long after something new replaces it we will. These problems are just standing at the forefront of attention at the moment.
Any help, any improvement, even words of support are a push in the right direction. They just opened one here I found out yesterday so I'm going to swing in today and get some information, and relay it back to you, thank you for caring about the forgotten people.

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Re: James (# 12)

Amber, James is correct. Everyone has an opinion but few step forward in action to help. There will always be something else to take it's place but if you help even a few, they will be grateful that you cared and the supply was available. You just keep doing you and GOD bless.

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Re: James (# 6)

No one chooses for painful negative consequences.They choose to believe casual, social reasons to take drugs is acceptable.All consequences in life are a result of earlier beliefs and decisions The choice now is to be codependent with the drug addict or to really deal a blow to the problem.No different from telling families how to deal with their alcoholic beloved.

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