LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A invoice that will legalize syringe service packages—drug hurt discount packages— in Michigan handed the Home Well being Coverage Committee Thursday.
At the moment, many municipalities criminalize hurt discount packages concerning medicine, despite the fact that syringes and different tools supplied by these packages aren’t categorized as drug paraphernalia.
Nevertheless, HB 5178 would change this.
The invoice would instantly enable the creation and operation of syringe-service packages beneath state legislation, and make clear that the tools supplied by them, equivalent to syringes and needles, usually are not drug paraphernalia beneath state legislation.
“Both as a volunteer and community member, I have seen first-hand how these programs save lives,” stated Rep. Carrie Rheingans (D-Ann Arbor). “The opioid overdose epidemic is not over, and we must ensure these crucial public health programs are available in every corner of the state. It is urgent we get this done.”
In 2024 alone, Michigan’s SSPs supplied almost 2,500 referrals to substance use dysfunction remedy, distributed over 40,000 naloxone kits, and saved almost 2,600 lives from overdose, in keeping with state knowledge.
