Needle distribution in Bangor dropped by more than half last year following the closure of the area’s largest syringe service provider, according to a report from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Bangor’s two remaining programs collectively distributed 349,356 needles and disposed of 386,462 in the most recent reporting year, which ran from the beginning of November 2024 through the end of October 2025, according to the Maine CDC.
The data, which was sent to the Maine Legislature in March, showed a considerable decline in needle distribution in the city, as well as a more modest dropoff statewide in the first year since the Health Equity Alliance, a longstanding needle exchange and HIV service provider in the area commonly known as HEAL, folded at the end of 2024.
The report’s release comes amid growing complaints about the proliferation of needles in Bangor and elsewhere in the state. It also sheds light on service programs that have been the subject of heated debate at recent Bangor City Council meetings and on social media, with some critics blaming syringe service programs for needle waste found on city streets and in parks.
Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness and Needlepoint Sanctuary, the two providers operating in Bangor, have worked to fill the gap left by HEAL’s closure. But even combined, they haven’t reached the level of needle distribution that HEAL maintained in recent years. HEAL alone distributed 588,863 syringes in 2024.
The two providers collectively disposed of slightly more needles than they distributed in the past year, according to the report. Both programs accept used syringes from participants for disposal, and Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness also has a contract with the city to collect syringe litter.
Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness CEO Lisa Sockabasin declined to comment on the Maine CDC report, and Needlepoint Sanctuary executive director Willie Hurley did not respond to a request for comment.
In total, syringe service programs across Maine gave out 2,696,610 sterile syringes in 2025, down from 3,188,444 in the previous year, according to the report.
Statewide, there was a wide range in how many syringes a program gave out at one time, on average, per person. Needlepoint Sanctuary distributed 179 sterile syringes per exchange on average, and Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness distributed 36 per exchange, according to a BDN analysis of data provided in the report.
Although Maine CDC caps the number of syringes a program can give out at 100 for clients who don’t have any used needles to exchange, people turning in more than 100 used needles can get new ones at a 1-to-1 ratio.
Some people who use needle exchange programs may not be able to visit those programs frequently, so they might exchange many syringes at once to stock up for a longer period of time to avoid reusing.
“That completely makes sense in a state like Maine that’s incredibly rural, where people don’t have access to transportation, where people need to have enough to get through at least a week, if not weeks,” Anna McConnell, executive director of the syringe service program Maine Access Points, said. “They can’t just get to these programs every day.”
Syringe service programs also refer clients to many other types of services, such as drug checking programs, peer support, wound care, substance use treatment and infectious disease services. Referrals for basic needs like housing and food were the most common last year statewide, according to the report.
Maine CDC touted syringe service providers in the report as a critical part of the response to an ongoing HIV outbreak in Penobscot County.
Both Bangor-based programs conducted significantly more HIV tests onsite in 2025 compared with the previous year — 616 at Needlepoint Sanctuary and 163 at Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness. They conducted zero and 62 tests on-site in 2024, respectively. The programs also upped the number of referrals they made last year to infectious disease testing and treatment for HIV, hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections, in line with more referrals statewide.
“The state’s ability to respond effectively to outbreaks is significantly impacted” when syringe services are disrupted, the report stated.
In addition to HEAL’s closure, Bangor also saw syringe service disruptions last year when Bangor city officials stopped plans for Needlepoint Sanctuary to offer mobile syringe services downtown.
The report also noted that encampment closures made it harder for syringe service providers to reach the population at risk of infection amid the outbreak, which is primarily affecting people who use drugs or are homeless — a link that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also drew in a draft report obtained by the Bangor Daily News earlier this month.
Bangor shut down the city’s largest encampment, where about 100 people were living, in February 2025.
“Many people living in encampments do not have a cellphone, reliable internet access, nor an address, making it difficult to deliver services where [syringe service program] staff can follow up on previous services,” Maine CDC’s report stated.
Bangor’s syringe service programs also ramped up distribution of naloxone, the life-saving overdose reversal medication, last year. The two service providers nearly reached last year’s distribution levels for naloxone despite HEAL’s closure.
Recent complaints about syringe service programs at Bangor City Council meetings have often centered on syringe litter downtown and in local parks.
City Councilor Carolyn Fish recently proposed a ban on new syringe service programs. City Council Chair Susan Hawes has expressed support for limiting syringe service programs to a strict 1-to-1 exchange ratio.
“The frustration continues to mount!! We have repeatedly asked for the one for one exchange, nothing yet!!!” Hawes commented on Facebook earlier this month.
Statewide rules dictating syringe exchange limits are set by the Maine CDC, but individual municipalities have the ability to further restrict programs. Sanford banned syringe exchange programs from operating for a year in December.
Numerous studies have found that restrictions on syringe services do not reduce syringe litter; in fact, some have found that syringe litter is more common in cities without needle exchange programs. The U.S. CDC also recommends unlimited syringe distribution as the best practice for preventing the spread of HIV.