Harm-reduction clinic opens

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Jackson County does not have a needle exchange program at this time, but efforts are being taken to offer harm-reduction services to help people be safer when using drugs.

The C.A.R.E.S. Clinic is open from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Jackson County Health Department in Seymour. C.A.R.E.S. stands for Collaborative Advocacy, Referral and Educational Services.

Approved last year, the clinic opened Feb. 22 and has done outreach clinics in Medora with plans to provide services in Brownstown and Crothersville too.

Christy Thrasher, clinic coordinator, said harm reduction is an effective way to help stop the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C; reduce the rate of infectious diseases; and decrease overall drug use in a community.

“We are really looking for community buy-in and support,” Thrasher said.

Free services available at the clinic include distribution and training on how to administer naloxone to a person overdosing on opioids;HIV and Hepatitis C testing; referrals to agencies; and programs to help battle drug addiction and educational materials.

The clinic also makes available safer drug use supplies including sterile water, tourniquets, cotton swabs and other materials used when injecting drugs. Although syringes are not offered, Thrasher said it’s possible that will change in the future if Jackson County commissioners ever decide to approve a needle exchange.

Thrasher said there is a misconception needle exchanges lead to an increase in drug use.

“We are seeing as much as a 13 percent drop in problematic substance use in those communities that do have needle exchanges,” she said.

“We have to accept the fact that (drug use) is happening, and because it’s happening, we want people to have safe equipment and know how to be clean and safe when injecting,” Thrasher said. “The supplies and syringes are really a very small part of all this. There is a bigger education piece.”

She said the clinic is giving people a message someone cares about them by providing safe use supplies.

“We care about their health and safety and well-being,” she said. “If we can’t stop them from using, at least we can make them safer when they do use.”

Oftentimes, it’s knowing someone cares that leads a person to ask for help, she added.

“Studies have shown that it’s 40 percent more likely that a person will seek treatment if they have received harm-reduction services,” she said.

One of the biggest problems the clinic is facing, however, is people are afraid to walk in because they don’t want to be criminalized for their actions, and they won’t be, Thrasher said.

Participation is anonymous, and the clinic is run mainly by volunteers who have had substance use issues in the past or who are family members of those who have.

“All of us have been impacted by the issue,” Thrasher said. “We are just here to help people be safer. There is no judgment and no punitive measures for those who come to the clinic.”

Thrasher said she would like to train more volunteers, either in groups or individually, in how to administer naloxone so they can teach others.

“We would really like to get more (naloxone) out to the community,” she said.

The clinic also is promoting proper syringe disposal and has installed syringe collection boxes, similar to mail collection boxes, on the west side of the health department and at the Carr Township Volunteer Fire Department in Medora. Plans are being made to put boxes in Brownstown and Crothersville too.

The boxes allow people to dispose of used syringes safely so used needles do not end up in parks, along sidewalks or in ditches.

For information about the clinic, call 812-498-8890 or email [email protected].

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Jackson County C.A.R.E.S. Clinic

Where: Jackson County Health Department, 801 W. Second St.

When: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays

Available services: Naloxone training and distribution, HIV/Hepatitis C testing, referrals to resources, safer use supplies and educational materials.

For more information call 812-498-8890, email [email protected] or visit facebook.com/CARES-197313007495303/.

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