Brewer, a city with no syringe services, has banned the needle exchange programs from opening in the city.
The Brewer City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to ban the programs from physical and mobile locations in the city by changing the city’s land use ordinance. The vote followed comments from 10 Brewer residents who said they didn’t want needle exchange programs or discarded syringes in the city.
Councilors did not discuss the code change before or after voting.
Syringe programs and exchanges are contentious in Bangor, where a six-month ban was proposed earlier this year, but this is the first time a ban has been passed in a neighboring community. The programs, which have been proven to lower disease exchange rates, allow people to exchange used needles for sterilized ones.
Residents at Bangor City Council meetings have said the programs are causing needles to be discarded in open community areas, causing safety issues.
Brewer residents who spoke at the meeting said the biggest fear they had about a syringe program opening in the city was that Brewer would not be as safe or clean as it currently is. Many speakers drew comparisons to Bangor, saying that the Queen City did not have the level of public safety Brewer did, at least partially because of the needle exchange programs.
“Bangor is having huge problems, and Brewer’s already experiencing problems. I think a service location could attract increased foot traffic, loitering and public drug use. We’ve seen it all in Bangor,” Kathleen Kramer, a City Council candidate, said during public comment.
Residents did not point out any specific problems Bangor was facing, other than saying that discarded needles were being found in public spaces.
Public Safety Direct Chris Martin said needles, and an encampment, have been found in Brewer this year.
Brewer Public Works employees cleaned an encampment under a railroad overpass tunnel last week, Martin said. Brewer police officers filled a gallon bucket with used needles found at the site, Martin said.
Other syringes have been found along Wilson Street and the Brewer Riverwalk, Martin said.
Every time needles have been found, one of the city’s departments has been dispatched to clean them up. Having a syringe exchange program in the city could create more waste and put more strain on city services, Martin said.
The waste would not only take up city staff time, but could put “hazardous waste” in public spaces, Martin said.
“Their presence creates legitimate concerns for residents, family, children, pets and the municipal employees responsible for maintaining our community,” Martin said.
Brewer is one of multiple Greater Bangor communities that said needles were being found along the Penobscot River. One syringe found along the Brewer Riverwalk earlier this year poked a 3-year-old child.
The ban does not make it impossible for residents to buy sterilized needles.
Brewer police officers checked at every pharmacy in the city Monday to ensure needles can be bought, Martin said. Some locations were selling 100 syringes for roughly 14 cents each, which Martin said should make them affordable.
“How can people not afford to get a clean syringe?” Martin said at the meeting. “Because you’re paying $110, $120 a gram for the drugs, and if you’ve got a loaded syringe, you probably have about $20 worth of dope in that loaded syringe.”
Although Martin has spent roughly a year and a half working toward getting this ordinance changed, he said the exchange programs now banned in the city have positive effects, but aren’t being held accountable.
“Maine’s [syringe service program] framework is intended to advance public health, including reducing the transmission of infectious diseases. Those objectives deserve recognition. At the same time, the framework must also provide meaningful accountability for syringe distribution, collection, safe disposal, and impacts on surrounding communities,” Martin said.