BY THE NUMBERS

435: number of people enrolled at Portland’s needle-exchange program

76: percent of intravenous drug users who use pharmacies as their primary source for needles but have difficulty obtaining them

40: percent of users who share needles

25: percent of users who said they would use a satellite service in Westbrook

Portland’s needle-exchange program for intravenous drug users might locate a satellite office in Westbrook.

The program is a division of Portland Public Health, and provides clean syringes in a one-for-one exchange for dirty syringes. The mission is to combat the transmission of diseases through dirty needles, as well as provide a first point of contact for intravenous drug users to get help. The program’s main office is at 103 India St., and a satellite location is at the Preble Street Resource Center, both in Portland.

At Westbrook’s Public Safety Committee meeting on Monday, where Portland Public Health officials made their initial pitch, Police Chief William Baker, newly appointed in August, said he has seen evidence of a need for such a service, and while he does not advocate illegal drug use, he said he believes, overall, the program has merit.

Jesse Carney, a community health promotions specialist in Portland, said on Monady that he has talked with a number of people who use the needle-exchange program and has identified Westbrook as an effective location.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said the city wants the public to be aware of the discussions about the program, since the office would be frequented by drug users and that could cause public or neighborhood concern.

On Wednesday Mayor Bruce Chuluda said he had received calls since the Monday meeting from constituents who are concerned about the program. Chuluda feels the program is a positive step that could mitigate a number of problems, but given the feedback he has received he wants to look further into it.

“I haven’t really fathomed out the reasons,” Chuluda said of the concerns. Some, he said, may just be knee-jerk emotional reactions, but he wants more feedback from the community to better gauge the city’s sentiments.

Marty Sabol, the infectious disease program manager for Portland, said he was not around when the program started in Portland, but his understanding was that it was established with minimal controversy.

Sabol said the program is internationally recognized and seen as one of the most effective interventions for intravenous drug users.

Carney’s efforts as an outreach coordinator put him into the communities of intravenous drug users, and he has identified a number of people from the Westbrook area. Carney has also been to Westbrook to do mobile exchanges, when users contact Carney for needles during off-hours.

Carney has been working with the program for about two years, and has seen little public concern. He said the program offices see no trouble.

“The consumers are actually quite understanding that this is here to help them,” said Carney on Tuesday at his India Street offices, which look like a doctor’s office: clean, quiet, air-conditioned, and with a stack of magazines such as the The New Yorker on tables and public health posters scattered across the walls.

Users sign up for the program anonymously, go into the office and exchange their needles for clean ones in a private room.

Carney said the program gets intravenous drug users into the health network, where they can be vaccinated against some diseases and diagnosed with others, such as hepatitis and HIV. The office is also the first stop to get the users into a treatment program. The program is also preventing improper disposal of dirty needles, where members of the public can be pricked and exposed to disease.

Syringes are available over the counter at many pharmacies. But because of costs and the stigma, many users won’t go to these locations, said Carney, preferring to share needles.

Part of Carney’s job is to help mitigate the stigma to get the users to a point where they can comfortably get clean syringes to prevent the transmission of disease. This is sometimes difficult, said Carney, “because I’m told I look like a cop.” (If he shaves his goatee, he said, he looks like he’s 8.)

But once he has a positive first point of contact he then can get information to other networks of users.

The ultimate goal of the needle-exchange program is to give out fewer clean needles than they take in. With the one-to-one exchange, a user can bring in 10 needles and get 10 or less in return, but not more. So far, in 2007, the 4,320 clean needles have been provided in exchange for 4,752 dirty needles. The total needles exchanged are almost double what were exchanged in 2006, but in 2006 there was only a four-needle difference between the needles distributed and the needles disposed.

If a new satellite location comes to Westbrook, it would be one of three in the Greater Portland area. Bangor, Augusta and Ellsworth also have programs, with another one in the works at the York office of the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland.

The program does not need any action on Westbrook’s part to locate a satellite office here. Carney’s presentation on Monday was informational, and the Portland Public Health division would fund the office entirely. Chuluda said he expects discussions to continue, but the work at ths point is preliminary.