Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Source: Catonsville Times (MD)
Copyright: 2006 Patuxent Publishing Company
Contact:  http://news.mywebpal.com/index.cfm?pnpid=351
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/786
Author: Adam Bednar
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

HAMPDEN NEEDS NEEDLE PROGRAM, CITY SAYS

Baltimore City Health Department counselor Jeffrey Long talks to a 
drug addict as they exchange needles inside a recreational vehicle 
Sept. 29. In a recreational vehicle parked along a row of abandoned 
rowhouses off Greenmount Avenue, drug addicts place bundles of used 
syringes in a biohazard container and receive new ones in return.

Baltimore City Health Department counselor Jeffrey Long counts the 
old needles and enters the numbers into a laptop computer. "Five, 10, 
15, 20," he counts.

The scene at 24th and Barclay streets is part of the daily routine 
for the health department's Needle Exchange Program, which operates 
in 14 neighborhoods with high addiction rates.

Health officials think the program is needed in Hampden, too.

Officials approached the Hampden Community Council Sept. 25 to gauge 
its interest in the Needle Exchange Program. The 12-year-old program 
tries to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS through intravenous drug use 
by giving the users -- mostly heroin addicts -- clean needles, 
condoms, counseling and educational materials in exchange for their 
old needles.

Whether the Hampden council will give its blessing is unclear.

Genny Dill, the council president, said she wants officials to come 
to more meetings to discuss strategies and where the RV would operate.

"The drug problem is an epidemic throughout Baltimore. It's sad to 
see our neighbors struggling with addiction and dying in our 
community," Dill told the Messenger in an e-mail. "Many of these 
addicts are neighbors of ours -- our neighbors' children, friends or 
relatives."

Program director Lamont Coger said his team could serve Hampden immediately.

"We are ready to go," he said.

Needle-exchange employees approached the council because a recent 
report says 911 calls for opiate-related drug overdoses are rapidly 
increasing in the neighborhood.

Hampden has had 31 such calls this year as of Sept. 25, compared with 
20 in 2005, Coger said.

Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein said the 911 call data don't 
necessarily indicate an upturn in drug use. However, he said tracking 
the frequency of 911 calls is the way the department identifies drug hot spots.

"I would call the 911 data kind of a red flag," Sharfstein said.

Coger said he was surprised to learn heroin is a growing problem in 
Hampden, although he knew the community has drug problems.

Dill, too, was surprised. "I think it would be safe to say that 
nobody thought that the ODs got worse," she said.

Sharfstein wasn't quite as taken aback by the increase in drug- 
related 911 calls from Hampden.

"Baltimore has just a terrible drug problem and has had a terrible 
drug problem for a long time," Sharfstein said.

Although some Hampden residents may think bringing a mobile exchange 
unit to the neighborhood is excessive, Sharfstein said it wouldn't be 
an extraordinary measure.

"Ideally, when drug use moves into a community we want to be there to 
address the public health component," he said.

The program is working, according to statistics from the Maryland 
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, which says that the rate of 
new HIV infections from intravenous drug use has dropped nearly 20 
percent in the city since the program started.

The health department claims to have disposed of millions of used needles.

The exchange program also plays a role in getting addicts into 
drug-treatment programs, such as methadone clinics.

But the most immediate goal of the program is to make sure that each 
addict who shows up has clean needles, bleach water and cotton to 
clean the skin and condoms to protect them and anyone with whom they 
have sexual contact.

A fairly healthy-looking young woman climbs aboard the RV.

"You want some longer needles?" Long asks.

She thinks for a minute and declines. Long asks if she needs anything 
else. She smiles and politely says no.

"I've got enough condoms," she says before getting out of the RV and 
shuffling up Barclay Street.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman