Sarah Wilson
(Colorado Newsline) Two harm reduction nonprofits in Pueblo are suing the city over a recently enacted ordinance banning syringe exchange programs, or SEPs, which the organizations say are legal in the state and crucial to reduce communicable diseases among people who use injecting drugs. .
Last month, the Pueblo City Council voted to ban free SEPs, which have operated in the city for more than a decade, in an effort to curb used needle litter in the city.
Now, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the city on behalf of Colorado Health Network and the Southern Colorado Harm Reduction Association, which operated SEP in the city before the new ordinance.
“Pueblo’s decision ignores basic public health policies and evidence-based programs that seek to ensure that all Coloradans have access to essential health care, education and harm prevention,” said Tim Macdonald, legal director of the ACLU of Colorado, in a statement.
SEPs are community-based programs that provide free sterile syringes and drug injection equipment, as well as the safe disposal of these items, in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV and HCV infections among people who use drugs. They also offer wound treatment supplies and overdose reversal medications.
They have been legal in Colorado since 2010 and are supported by public health and harm reduction experts. The law does not require prior local approval as of 2020. There are about 20 such programs in the state.
Access Point, Colorado Health Network’s SEP, has operated in Pueblo since 2014. The Harm Reduction Partnership of Southern Colorado opened its doors in 2017. Both groups also serve as a connector to a variety of medical, behavioral and recovery services for its participants.
The lawsuit, filed in Pueblo County District Court, alleges that the city’s ban circumvents state law that “expressly permits any qualified nonprofit organization to operate a clean needle exchange program.”
Although Pueblo is a charter city that has the right to self-government, the lawsuit argues that state law supersedes any local ordinance that “conflicts with state law in a matter of state or mixed state and local interest,” according to the legal terms. preceding.
“Because the operation of SEPs and their supply of opioid antagonists is a matter of statewide concern, or at a minimum, a matter of mixed state and local concern, and because the Pueblo Ordinance operationally conflicts with state public health regulation, the People’s Ordinance takes precedence over state law,” the lawsuit reads.
If Pueblo’s ordinance is allowed to remain in effect, the next closest program will be in Colorado Springs, about 50 miles north of Pueblo.
“Passage of the Ordinance is likely to have impacts beyond the City’s borders, including increased risk of outbreaks of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C in Pueblo and other jurisdictions from where participants travel to obtain services.” in town. “The ban on SEP services in Pueblo will also increase health care costs, increase overdose deaths, and result in fewer people entering treatment programs, both in Pueblo and in adjacent jurisdictions,” the lawsuit reads. .
Additionally, CHN and SCHRA risk losing funding through the Colorado HIV/AIDS Prevention Program if they cannot meet their contract requirements, which the ban makes more difficult. SCHRA received more than $1.5 million from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment between 2020 and 2024 and CHN received almost $1 million from CDPHE between 2022 and 2024.
In addition to the lawsuit, a pair of Pueblo citizens are collecting signatures for a petition to suspend the ordinance, according to the Pueblo Chief. They have until June 14 to collect more than 1,400 signatures. The City Council could then repeal the ordinance or send the question to voters in November.
City officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.
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