San Luis Obispo Bangers Syringe Exchange is supplying free clean syringes, the emergency overdose drug NARCAN, disease tests and other healthcare services. These services aim to protect people who use injected drugs from overdoses and infectious diseases.
According to a 2019 CDC report, syringe service programs are associated with an approximately 50 percent reduction in cases of the severe diseases HIV and Hepatitis-C (HCV). Over 2,500 new HIV infections occur each year among people who inject drugs, and the majority of new HCV infections are due to injection drug use.
“Our people have saved so many lives,” said SLO Bangers Program Manager Lois Petty. “We teach everybody how to use safely so that they don’t overdose, and so they don’t get infected with HIV or Hep-C.” Petty is one of the people who founded the local nonprofit nearly thirty years ago.
Supervised injections are a controversial topic in California politics. In August, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have allowed San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles to launch trial supervised drug injection sites. Newsom said opening these sites could cause “unintended consequences” in areas with already-high rates of illegal drug use. However, CDC research shows no link between supervised injection sites and an increase in drug use.
SLO Bangers Outreach Coordinator Kristina Toma said the hardest part of working with the program is the lingering stigma against people who use drugs.
“People are taught pretty early on by parents, peers, adults, school, and leaders in their lives that people who use drugs are lazy or dangerous,” said Toma, “The teaching of that starts extremely young, and it’s enforced for so much of your childhood and adolescence that it sticks, unfortunately.”
SLO Bangers is part of the harm reduction movement, which employs a spectrum of strategies including safer use, managed use and abstinence. The movement started in the 1970s in response to the War on Drugs, or government-led anti-drug initiatives, which often targeted minorities and low income communities.
Petty said SLO Bangers gives often stigmatized people a safe, judgment-free space.
“So many of our participants say that they look forward to the syringe exchange because it’s the only place no one judges them, they don’t have to jump through any hoops and they’re treated with kindness,” said Petty.
SLO Bangers Syringe Exchange is part of a national network of syringe exchange programs. The SLO-based exchange is located at 2191 Johnson Ave. and is open Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
