May 2019 | Vol. 5 Iss. 05
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By Bill Hardesty | B.Hardesty@mycityjournals.com
M
eet Angel Flores, age 36. Angel was born in Salt Lake City and started using drugs at age 12. He is a long-term recovery addict. Angel lived on the streets for seven years. He now lives in an apartment on Main Street. Angel is now employed at All Weather Products in Salt Lake City. Two years ago, while on the street, he saw that the Utah Harm Reduction Coalition (UHRC) had set up a tent and asked what they were doing. He was told they were doing syringe exchange. He responded, “Syringe exchange. What?” Angel is now clean and volunteers with the UHRC at syringe exchange events and tells his story to participants. Utah Harm Reduction Coalition Mindy Vincent, a licensed clinical social worker, founded UHRC in 2016 after her own recovery. She is 12 years sober. She lost a sister to a drug overdose and knew she had to do something to save her little brother, who was also an addict. He is now three years sober. While there is no universally accepted definition of harm reduction, it is generally a public health strategy aimed at respecting drug users, reducing the risk of HIV, hepatitis B and C, and offering approaches to prevent or end drug usage. UHRC embraces this approach by focusing on individuals and their power to change. Vincent calls herself a “recovered addict” not the more common “recovering addict.” Vincent feels the key to long-term success is “becoming a new person.” “Build a life worth living,” Vincent declared. Vincent looked at current practices and concluded that if a person is labeled “recovering,” there is no end. The person always feels that a slip up can happen any time. They don’t see themselves in a new light, but rather just avoiding the habit as long as they can.
Vincent also realized, “I never asked [the addict] what they would like.” Vincent feels it is too common for recovery services to tell clients rather than listen to them. The UHRC mission statement declares: “Everyone is their own primary agent of change and we support their rights to choose their own definition of recovery.” “We meet them where they are at and don’t leave them there,” is an often-spoken mantra at UHRC. Sometimes, harm reduction strategy is painted as an “anything goes” approach. However, Vincent pointed out that “harm reduction has boundaries.” In fact, she said those boundaries are important as people build their new life. UHRC therapy approach is based on four principles: healing from traumas of the past; learning new coping skills; reducing risk factors in your life; and building protector factors. “Love is really the thing that heals,” Vincent observed, which is why participants are never kicked out of treatment. “People need to be allowed to recover fully,” she added. UHRC offers substance abuse treatment, free or low-cost testing, drop-in counseling, group sessions, recovery resources, and naloxone (Narcan) distribution. “We have provided about 3,000 kits and know of 1,000 reversals,” Vincent said. This means a thousand people are living rather than dead following an overdose. Syringe exchange UHRC is most known for their syringe exchange service, which is also the most misunderstood. At first glance, the notion that agencies can give clean needles to users so that they can continue to use seems nonproductive in helping people become clean. However, the evidence shows the opposite. Syringe exchange programs became legal in Utah on March 25, 2016 with the signature of Governor Gary Herbert. HB 308
Angel Flores, a long-term recovery addict, is working now and it started with finding a syringe exchange program by the Utah Harm Reduction Coalition. (Bill Hardesty/City Journals)
went into effect May 10, 2016. The law states that agencies in Utah “may operate a syringe exchange program in the state to prevent the transmission of disease and reduce morbidity and mortality among individuals who inject drugs and those individuals’ contacts.” The law does not provide funds for syringe exchange programs, but it does provide guidelines and requires reporting. It also follows the restrictions of federal funding for syringe exchange. Currently, UHRC only holds syringe exchange events in Salt Lake City. However, they hope to expand into other areas soon because they see the need. They simply need an informed and understanding community.
This is not a “throw in the towel” approach. But rather a way to introduce treatment options to users, reduce the amount and the cost of HIV treatment as well as hepatitis B and C, and reduce syringe litter. Treatment options In an August 2017 information sheet, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that, “People who inject drugs are five times as likely to enter treatment for substance use disorder and more likely to reduce or stop injecting when they use a [Syringe Service Program].” At a recent syringe exchange on the west side of Salt Lake, participants stood in line to exchange used needles for new ones. For Continued on page 4
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