Viewpoint: District Health Department #10 Offers Safe Use Kits

District Health Department #10 (DHD#10) now offers Safe Use Kits, which are aimed at reducing the negative effects associated with drug use, and include syringes, alcohol swabs, sterile water, cookers, cottons, tourniquets, fentanyl test strips, and condoms. A Substance Use Disorder (SUD) resource sheet with treatment, recovery, and naloxone resources are also provided.

Safe Use Kits can be accessed Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Crawford, Kalkaska, Lake, Manistee, Mason, Mecosta, Newaygo, Oceana, and Wexford counties. 

In addition, individuals can dispose of syringes, needles, and other sharps at all DHD#10 offices. Sharps/needles brought into the office must be sealed in either a standard biohazard sharps container or a laundry detergent jug that is taped shut and labeled sharps. Loose sharps will not be accepted inside the building. A 24-hour drop box is available on the external wall of the buildings. This option is intended for small amounts of loose sharps that are not in a container. For safety purposes, sharps containers should not be left on the ground outside the building. Free sharps containers are provided and can be picked up at all DHD#10 offices.

“IV drug use is a serious issue and one that impacts our communities,” said Angie Gullekson, Public Health Educator/Certified Prevention Specialist for DHD#10. “Sharing of injection equipment between people who use drugs has led to several outbreaks of HIV and hepatitis C and spread of other serious infections in the U.S. Since the 1980s, providing clean injection equipment has been used as a safe and proven way to prevent the spread of these infections. People who inject drugs and regularly use a program providing clean injection equipment, called a Syringe Service Program (SSP), are more than five times as likely to enter treatment for a substance use disorder and nearly three times as likely to report reducing or discontinuing injection as those who have never used an SSP. Providing Safe Use Kits reduces risk in various ways.”

For more information on these programs, visit https://www.mi.gov/ssp and https://www.cdc.gov/ssp.

If you have specific questions about this project, please contact DHD#10’s Angie Gullekson at 231.876.3813.