St. J. Needle Exchange Gets a Reprieve, Outreach Put on Hold

      In response to a challenge from the St. Johnsbury Selectboard to Vermont CARES’ needle exchange permit, Health Commissioner Dr. Jan Carney gave each party something it wanted. CARES’ program can still operate until Carney makes a final decision sometime this month. But it is now – perhaps temporarily – limited to exchanging needles only for currently enrolled clients at the St. Johnsbury office.
      According to Amy Livingston, Program Director for Prevention at Vermont CARES, There are currently nine clients enrolled in the St. Johnsbury needle exchange program.
      “It’s frustrating to have a new program that could be growing and suddenly have to stop that growth,” said Livingston. “We can still offer prevention information, bleach kits and counseling, and we can dispose of dirty needles for anyone who comes in. But it puts us in an awkward position if someone [not already enrolled] were to ask for help.”
      The St. Johnsbury area – Caledonia County – has the highest per-capita rate of heroin and intravenous needle use, according to data in the 2001 Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan document prepared by the Vermont HIV Prevention Community Planning Group and the Vermont DoH AIDS Program and disseminated in the fall of 2001. The rate was 11.4 substance abuse treatment clients seeking help for heroin addiction per 10,000 population, and 14.8 who used needles for substance abuse. The population of Caledonia County was cited in the report as 29,702.
      In comparison, Chittenden County (population as cited: 146,571) had a heroin use rate of 9.5 per 10,000 and 10.1 for needle users.
      In the meantime, Carney has recommended that Vermont CARES work harder on involving and informing the St. Johnsbury community and that the St. Johnsbury Selectboard send a delegate to the needle exchange program’s Community Advisory Board meetings. At press time, CARES had scheduled meetings with the St. Johnsbury Selectboard, and the Community Relations Committee for Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital. A meeting had not yet been scheduled with a parents’ group through the school board.
      The bottom line for Vermont CARES, suggested Livingston, is always about preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, not about judging the people who need help or denying that there’s a problem.