Respectfully, those signing below wish to show their support for harm reduction, injection alternatives, and ask for the release of goods in reference to Case Number 2022090100068201.

Smoking drugs can lead to injuries and spread infections, such as hepatitis C and COVID-19, particularly when individuals share or use make-shift pipes.1 These practices are more common among marginalized individuals including those experiencing homelessness.1,2,3 

Decades of data demonstrate that providing individuals with safer smoking equipment has numerous potential benefits including promoting safer smoking practices, 4,5 decreased rates of injection drug use,4 and increased engagement in health services.6  Harm reduction programs, including public health departments and academic institutions with significant expertise in the treatment of substance use disorders, distribute safer smoking materials. 

The addiction and overdose crisis in the U.S. are multi-faceted and nondiscriminatory. We must be dedicated to utilizing all available resources to protect the health and wellbeing of people who use drugs through evidence-based intervention. While traditional needle exchange services are lifesaving, they often fall short of engaging the entire desired audience.

Pipes as engagement tools help community health workers, medical and public health professionals reach people at risk for HIV, COVID-19 transmission, and those experiencing homelessness who are often disconnected from social services.

As overdose prevention, pipes create new avenues for the distribution of Naloxone, a lifesaving opioid-overdose-reversal drug, and safeguard against fentanyl now being found in stimulants.

When used as alternative modes of administration, pipes lower injection rates, lessening the risk of HIV, Hepatitis C, and soft-tissue infection.

With a growing number of stimulant-involved overdose deaths, engaging with people who smoke drugs is imperative to stemming the overdose crisis in the U.S. These tools save lives.

Harm reduction serves people who use drugs by meeting immediate needs and providing the means to live and set goals for recovery. It is the mission of all who sign this to help expand pathways to recovery to include stimulant users and ensure quality of life for all people who use drugs.

  

1.        Butler AJ, Rehm J, Fischer B. Health outcomes associated with crack-cocaine use: Systematic review and meta-analyses. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2017;180:401-416. doi:10.1016/J.DRUGALCDEP.2017.08.036

2.        Cheng T, Wood E, Nguyen P, Montaner J, Kerr T, Debeck K. Crack pipe sharing among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2015;34(3):259-266. doi:10.1111/dar.12180

3.        Harris M. An urgent impetus for action: safe inhalation interventions to reduce COVID-19 transmission and fatality risk among people who smoke crack cocaine in the United Kingdom. Int J Drug Policy. June 2020:102829. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102829

4.        Leonard L, DeRubeis E, Pelude L, Medd E, Birkett N, Seto J. “I inject less as I have easier access to pipes”. Injecting, and sharing of crack-smoking materials, decline as safer crack-smoking resources are distributed. Int J Drug Policy. 2008;19(3):255-264. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2007.02.008

5.        Prangnell A, Dong H, Daly P, Milloy MJ, Kerr T, Hayashi K. Declining rates of health problems associated with crack smoking during the expansion of crack pipe distribution in Vancouver, Canada. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-017-4099-9

6.        Mcneil R, Kerr T, Pauly B, Wood E, Small W. Advancing patient-centered care for structurally vulnerable drug-using populations: a qualitative study of the perspectives of people who use drugs regarding the potential integration of harm reduction interventions into hospitals. Addiction. 2016;111(4):685-694. doi:10.1111/ADD.13214