Denver needle exchange programs build momentum

This year, two Denver nonprofit organizations opened their doors to distribute sterile syringes and connect with drug users in an effort to curtail the rising number of HIV/AIDS infections in Colorado, especially among gay men.

In 2010, Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill with bipartisan support that allowed organizations to distribute sterile needles. The Denver Colorado AIDS Project and the Harm Reduction Action Center were both granted certificates earlier this year to operate in Denver.

“We’re looking at a means of preventing HIV and Hepatitis C,” said Jesse Yedinak, prevention services Manager for CAP, adding that both diseases are on the rise among intravenous drug users. “More specifically, we are seeing a disproportionate increase with gay and bi men who inject meth.”

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported that the number of Coloradans living with HIV has increased steadily for the past four years, with a three percent increase every year. Of the 1,928 new cases since 2008, 21 females contracted HIV through injection drug use compared to almost 200 males who contracted the disease through intravenous drug use or a combination of IDU and male-to-male sexual contact.

CAP’s needle exchange program, Access Point, is working to lower those infection rates by not only providing sterile syringes and injecting equipment, but also first-aid kits, free testing, and resources for those who want to quit using.

“We’re working with some of the most stigmatized and isolated people in our community,” said Yedinak. “There’s a high prevalence of past trauma, past homelessness. Even though there’s a lot of education out there, the behavior’s not going to necessarily change if they don’t have those resources and support.”

HRAC has disposed more than 70,000 needles since its program began in February. “It’s all about being compassionate and assisting people from safer use to managed use to abstinence,” said Lisa Raville, HRAC’s executive director.

Since 2002, HRAC has offered a wide variety of services including free HIV and gonorrhea testing, referrals for substance abuse treatments and educational classes. “It’s so important that not only people come in and dispose of used needles and get clean needles,” said Yedinak, “but that we are also connecting with a population that can often times not tell anyone else they’re using.”

One of those outreach programs is Positive Impact, a program of The Denver Element. The program works with HIV-positive gay and bisexual men who have a history of intravenous drug abuse.

“A lot of active users will progress from snorting to smoking to injecting,” said Steve D’Ascoli, a therapist at the Mile High Recovery Project within the Element. He added that with individuals who inject, “your chances leap up 50 percent for contracting HIV or Hepatitis C.”

Among individuals living with HIV in Colorado, the death rate due to the disease among males has consistently been 12 to 18 percent higher than the rate among females, according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment. The Element’s services are working to lower those numbers, and D’Ascoli views Colorado’s needle exchange as a necessary component in that fight.

“It’s an excellent source of harm reduction. If you’re going to be injecting, do it in a smart manner.” D’Ascoli added that the program is more than just about providing needles. “It’s meeting them where they’re at. Providing a non-judgmental space for you to go in, get clean needles, get educated. If you’re ready to get help, this is where you can go.”

Nineteen Colorado lawmakers voted against needle exchange in 2010, arguing that the program encouraged drug use. Yedinak said the opposite has come true. “By having them [drug users] come in, getting them to talk about their drug use, we’re helping them to link into health care and testing that will ultimately reduce their drug use.”

Yedinak cited a New York study, which revealed the impact of a needle exchange program on HIV/AIDS infections. The survey showed a sharp drop of new IDU infections from 50 percent in 1990 to 13 percent in 2000.

Similar studies have begun in Colorado, and Yedinak hopes to see the same results in Denver. “Drug use still happens. We really want to minimize the harmful effects rather than ignore the problem or condemn individual drug users and have them suffer the consequences of a serious, chronic illness.”

CAP has also opened a needle exchange facility in Fort Collins, with plans to open another in Grand Junction at the beginning of 2013. Boulder County AIDS Project, as well, has a needle exchange program called The Works.