July 4, 2021- 2:30 p.m.
Under a new law that legalizes needle exchange programs in Oklahoma, the group will be able to make its underground operation more public in the hopes of helping more people.Â
The Oklahoma Legislature approved and Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation this year to allow for privately funded needle exchange programs in the state for at least the next five years.
Under Senate Bill 511 by Sen. John Michael Montgomery, R-Lawton, and Rep. Carol Bush, R-Tulsa, nonprofit groups, religious institutions, tribal governments and some government entities will be able to operate needle exchange programs.Â
Hana Fields started Stop Harm on Tulsa Streets after seeing needle exchange programs in Arizona. When she moved back to Tulsa, she arrived with 500 doses of naloxone — which can reverse an opiate overdose — and sought help with distribution.Â
The group grew threefold when she found Tulsans who knew firsthand the toll of addiction.
“It’s my dream for there to be a needle exchange in every city in Oklahoma in five or 10 years,” she said.
Bush was a driving force behind the legislation to legalize the programs after a particularly persistent constituent convinced her needle exchanges could be beneficial in Oklahoma.
An avid cyclist, she also came around to the idea after she started noticing discarded needles in parking lots, parks and on the side of the street while she rode around Tulsa.
She also had concerns about law enforcement officers getting stuck with dirty needles while in the line of duty.
Getting other Republican legislators on board with the bill that had bipartisan support was a challenge, she said.
When Bush first introduced in a legislative committee hearing legislation to legalize needle exchanges, she name-dropped Mike Pence roughly two dozen times.
As governor of Indiana, Pence authorized a needle exchange program in part of the state where the number of people infected with HIV was skyrocketing.
Since then, a majority of states have legalized needle exchanges in some way as a growing body of research shows the programs help reduce substance use and make drug users more likely to seek addiction treatment.
“It’s been a wonderful opportunity for the public health and mental health folks to really work with community partners on best practices on a program that’s going to be safe and effective,” Bush said.
The Oklahoma Health Department will craft a framework and regulate needle exchange programs.
The new law requires needle exchange programs to collect data including the number of people served, number of referrals provided, number of syringes collected and number of HIV and hepatitis tests performed. The data will help the health department track trends across the state.
Fields said she is excited about the data reporting requirements and hopes the state will get a better picture of the impact of needle exchanges.
“Sometimes, it feels like screaming into the void about how rampant hepatitis C is here, so I think it’ll be mutually beneficial to us and the state health department,” she said.
The health department is developing rules for the implementation of SB 511.
