WILMINGTON -- Crouched on the edge of Market Street, Mike Page is paying no attention to the cars zooming past over his left shoulder.
His eyes are locked on the face of the too-skinny woman in the camisole slumped against a telephone pole. She has a grocery bag filled with candy bars at her feet, which Page takes at a sign that she's using drugs.
After a few minutes, Page returns to a mini-van waiting nearby. The girl doesn't want overdose antidote naloxone or syringes, but she will take the condoms the group is offering.
The woman is just one of several people the joint Coastal Horizons and N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition team meet while visiting high-risk areas, including Market Street hotels and homeless camps, on Aug. 3. While the Harm Reduction Coalition is operating the city's first formal syringe exchange, while the Coastal Horizons early intervention specialists are conducting Hepatitis C and HIV testing.
Where is it available?
The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition is offering the city's first syringe exchange program, which is meant to help curb the secondary illnesses that come along with the repeated use of syringes. Proponents of syringe exchange programs also say they help users reach treatment faster.
What: N.C. Harm Reduction Syringe Exchange Program, which offers clean syringes, naloxone, condoms and harm reduction education. Coastal Horizons will also be joining in many instances to offer rapid Hepatitis C and HIV testing
Where: 3951 Market St., Building B, in the Bridges; Along Market Street
When: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. each Friday; 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each Wednesday
Cost: Free
How to reach the Harm Reduction Coalition: Call Mike Page at 910-795-7984
"People think this means we're OKing getting high," said Page, a Harm Reduction Coalition peer support specialist. "That's not what this is about, they're going to do it either way. This is about meeting them where they are and keeping them safe."
N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill legalizing syringe exchanges in early July. While needle exchanges are legal, they do not receive any taxpayer funding.
Since July 11, workers for the coalition's Wilmington exchange have met with 51 people. They've handed out 6,145 syringes and collected 5,725 while hitting the streets around Market Street each Wednesday night.
The coalition also plans to hold an exchange each Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. in their offices at 3951 Market St. and more hours could be offered in the fall.
His eyes are locked on the face of the too-skinny woman in the camisole slumped against a telephone pole. She has a grocery bag filled with candy bars at her feet, which Page takes at a sign that she's using drugs.
After a few minutes, Page returns to a mini-van waiting nearby. The girl doesn't want overdose antidote naloxone or syringes, but she will take the condoms the group is offering.
The woman is just one of several people the joint Coastal Horizons and N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition team meet while visiting high-risk areas, including Market Street hotels and homeless camps, on Aug. 3. While the Harm Reduction Coalition is operating the city's first formal syringe exchange, while the Coastal Horizons early intervention specialists are conducting Hepatitis C and HIV testing.
Where is it available?
The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition is offering the city's first syringe exchange program, which is meant to help curb the secondary illnesses that come along with the repeated use of syringes. Proponents of syringe exchange programs also say they help users reach treatment faster.
What: N.C. Harm Reduction Syringe Exchange Program, which offers clean syringes, naloxone, condoms and harm reduction education. Coastal Horizons will also be joining in many instances to offer rapid Hepatitis C and HIV testing
Where: 3951 Market St., Building B, in the Bridges; Along Market Street
When: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. each Friday; 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. each Wednesday
Cost: Free
How to reach the Harm Reduction Coalition: Call Mike Page at 910-795-7984
"People think this means we're OKing getting high," said Page, a Harm Reduction Coalition peer support specialist. "That's not what this is about, they're going to do it either way. This is about meeting them where they are and keeping them safe."
N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory signed a bill legalizing syringe exchanges in early July. While needle exchanges are legal, they do not receive any taxpayer funding.
Since July 11, workers for the coalition's Wilmington exchange have met with 51 people. They've handed out 6,145 syringes and collected 5,725 while hitting the streets around Market Street each Wednesday night.
The coalition also plans to hold an exchange each Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. in their offices at 3951 Market St. and more hours could be offered in the fall.
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