Fiscal Court, city council vote will be held on subject
LOUISA, Ky. — A public meeting was held in the Lawrence Co. Courthouse on Tuesday, January 31, 2017 to discuss the proposed introduction of a Harm Reduction Program in Lawrence Co.
A packed courthouse was present to hear the suggestions.
The speakers were Debbie Miller, Lawrence Co. Health Dept. director, Dr. Tom Frazier, Three Rivers Medical Center, Matt Brown and Tim Robinson of Addiction Recovery Care, members of the community, those in favor of and 
those opposed.
Most of the political leaders were present including Louisa Mayor Harold Slone and members of the City Council, Judge Executive John Osborne and magistrates, members of the Lawrence Co. School Board. Several concerned citizens were also present.
What is a Harm Reduction Program?
AN INTERVENTION THAT WORKS TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF HIV AND HEP C.
The Ky. General Assembly passed KY Senate Bill 192 which provides for the establishment of Harm Reduction Syringe Exchange Programs in Ky. that will be run by local health departments. The goals are to reduce transmission of diseases and infections spread by injection drug use, reduce the amount of contaminated syringes in the community and act as an access point for individuals to connect with treatment options.
Ms. Miller of the Lawrence Health Dept. released this statement today:
“…Thank you to everyone who attended last night’s Community Forum. Thanks to our presenters – Dr. Tom Frazier, Tim Robinson, Matt Brown, and Maria Hardy; our city and county officials; Mayor Slone and Judge Osborne; and our local Board of Health. Thanks to My Town TV for filming the event, Rent-2-Own for technology support; Thanks to Judge Osborne and his team for allowing us to meet at the Court House. Thanks to Jessie Wellman for moderating this event and to the Lawrence County Health Department team. I especially thank each and every concerned citizen who asked a question, provided their view or bravely shared their story.
We may not all see eye to eye on every issue, but it was abundantly clear that we all want the best for this community. There is no easy answer to the drug epidemic and no one person or organization can conquer it alone. Improving our community will take a lot of hard work. When we all work together, great things will happen and lives will be changed. The two words that keep coming back to me from last night are HOPE and LOVE. Let’s put aside our fear, spread the love and bring hope to our community…”
What does a syringe exchange program do? It is an evidenced based program to prevent and reduce the spread of HIV and Hep C, provides new, sterile syringes, provides for sharp containers for dirty needles and has proven to be effective.
“It also saves $7.00 for every dollar spent, said Dr. Frazier, a well respected gastroenterologist at Three Rivers Medical Center who also teaches classes at U of L. “This program does not increase drug use and makes our neighborhoods safer for everyone. A person who has never injected drugs will not begin to do so because a clean needle is available.”
The courthouse was full and appeared to be evenly divided on the issue. Some think the program will attract more drugs and addicts to the city while others say it will reduce the number of HIV and Hep C cases.
ARC Chief of staff for the CEO Matt Brown said he was very impressed by the large crowd last night. “I’m very glad to see discussion about drug addiction happening in our community,” Brown said. “We can no longer stick ours heads in the sand and pretend this is not a problem.”
“Our company (ARC) sees the benefit of a potential syringe program in the community, but at the same time we appreciate and respect the opinions of those who are in opposition,” Brown added.
Heath Preston, Lawrence County BOE chairman and concerned citizen, stated, “I believe the experts and recovering addicts did a wonderful job against this program, not meaning to, but the fact remains that in the Boyd Co. program, all needles do not come back, 60% in their case.”
Louisa Mayor Harold Slone issued this statement:
“…I attended the Harm Reduction Meeting at the courthouse Tuesday evening. I first want to thank all the people who are concerned about this issue whether you are for or against. I absolutely respect the concerns on both sides. This is truly one of the examples of a serious problem with no perfect solution. I will say the statistics coming from the CDC and the local public health and medical professionals are “alarming” to say the least and needs to be seriously taken in consideration for the sake of the entire community’s innocent risk for Hepatitis C.
At the end of the day lets ban together as a community and agree to work on solutions for this situation whether it be this program or others. I feel our sense of community spirit and consideration for one another is on the right track in our city and county and its essential if we are to grow and prosper for it to stay that way.
Let’s be an example to our friends in Washington… LOL…”
Both the city and county governments will vote on a resolution to allow the program to get going. Lawrence Co. is one of about 30 counties that have been selected for the program.whether or not they Learn more at www.kyhrc.org
