Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed a bill into law last week that would require organizations that provide clean syringes as part of needle exchange programs to report the ratio of the number of needles disposed at their sites to the number they hand out on a quarterly basis. Needle exchange programs must also have free disposal sites available to the public.
Sponsors for the bill said the goal was to reduce the number of used needles discarded in public areas.
“The issue that this bill attempts to address is the critical issue of needles on our streets, especially facing the people of Manchester,” Sen. Keith Murphy said in a hearing on the bill.
Sen. Pat Long, during testimony for the bill, stated that the bill was amended to recognize how syringe service providers contribute a public benefit.
“This is intended to address the issue of used syringe litter being left in public spaces while also recognizing the public health benefits of offering syringe service programs,” Long said.
Research has shown that syringe services reduce the spread of Hepatitis C and HIV, and ultimately reduce the number of used needles found in public spaces.
The law will go into effect in late August. The law also says that if the return rate is below 95% for two consecutive quarters, meaning that for every 100 clean needles handed out, less than 95 used needles were disposed, programs must come up with a corrective action plan within 30 days.
The bill originally would have prohibited syringe service providers from receiving any local and state funding.
Cities in New Hampshire are allowed to create their own ordinances for how syringe service providers operate.
Manchester limits the amount of syringes a provider can distribute to the number of used syringes handed in by those seeking their services, in a 1-to-1 exchange.
Lauren McGinley, executive director of the New Hampshire Harm Reduction Coalition which provides needles in Manchester and on the Seacoast, said these laws can deter process providers have made over the years.
“People can't dispose of their syringes in all of the different safe spaces that we have worked hard to set up over the last five years because they need to bring them only to us,” McGinley said.
Rochester is considering adopting an ordinance similar to Manchester's that would also require a 1-to-1 exchange.
