The Denver City Council may remove some restrictions on needle exchange centers.
The Budget and Policy Committee of the council will consider an ordinance next week that would remove the 1,000-foot buffer requirement for needle exchange centers from schools and day care centers. It also would eliminate a rule that only three needle exchange centers to operate in the county. “These restrictions have no public health or public safety benefit,” according to a presentation by city staff to the committee. State lawmakers already removed a requirement that local boards of health grant permits for the needle exchanges, the presentation states.
Council members Sarah Parady and Serena Gonzales Guttierez sponsored the ordinance. They say the changes are needed so Harm Reduction Action Center, or HRAC, can purchase a new building. The center received funding from the Denver Opioid Abatement Council for a new facility, but the money must be spent by 2025, when their current lease expires.
“HRAC will purchase a permanent facility to house their critical work providing health access services to over 4,000 individuals per year,” the presentation explains. “Since 2002, the HRAC has been the primary provider of centered education and services for people who inject drugs in Colorado. More recently, since 2020, smokers of crack, meth, and fentanyl have been integrated into services.”