SUBSTANCE USE & ADDICTION

Syringe exchange, overdose prevention, education, and access to care for people who use drugs

Come as you are.

Our harm reduction approach meets individuals where they are with respect and compassion and helps them to improve their lives.

Harm reduction reduces the number of drug overdoses, prevents transmission of HIV, hepatitis C, and STIs, and reduces injection site infections. Our staff provides training on opioid overdose prevention, distributes Naloxone, provides sterile syringes and supplies, and provides harm reduction counseling and linkage to needed services.

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We just can't forget about all the Rheannons in the world.

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Opioid overdose prevention

We help prevent overdoses by bringing education and services to the community. Our staff collaborates with organizations like hospitals, police departments, and substance use treatment providers to help prevent overdoses. Education is provided regarding safe substance use practices, Narcan training for overdose prevention, and referral to substance use treatment. 

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Syringe Exchange Locations

Albany

927 Broadway
Albany, NY 12207

Monday & Friday: 9:00am - 5:00pm
Tuesday - Thursday: by appointment

518-944-4558

Google Map directions

Glens Falls

13 Chester St
Glens Falls, NY 12801

By appointment only

518-743-0703

Google Map directions

Plattsburgh

202 Cornelia St
Plattsburgh, NY 12901

Monday & Friday: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Wednesday: 3:00pm - 6:00pm

518-563-2437

Google Map directions

Ticonderoga

166 Champlain Ave
Ticonderoga, NY 12883

1st Thursday of each month: 4:30pm - 6:30pm
3rd Thursday of each month: 4:30pm - 6:30p

518-563-2437

Google Map directions

Westport

6096 State Hwy 9N
Westport, NY 12993

4th Monday of each month: 4:30pm - 6:30pm

518-563-2437

Google Map directions

Hepatitis C patient navigation

Removing Barriers

To transportation, care, treatment, services, and medication

Providing Access

Hepatitis C treatment, harm reduction counseling, prevention services, PrEP, and other services you may need

Supporting

Individualized, hands-on support to help obtain and maintain timely, essential, and appropriate medical and social services

HOW CAN WE HELP YOU?

Frequently asked questions about drug use and addiction

Who can use syringe exchange?

Anyone who injects and/or uses medications or drugs can access a Syringe Exchange Program, also known as Syringe Services Program. Individuals seeking a safe place to access support or services around mental health, housing, food security, transportation, wound care, care management, and much more. Anyone who needs a safe place to land and feel safe is welcome in our syringe exchange.

Questions about overdose locations and procedures?

The AIDS Institute of New York offers this detailed provider directory.

Doesn't giving people unused needles encourage them to use drugs?

People don’t come to a syringe exchange so they can start using drugs, they already are. Syringe exchanges teach people how to use needles safely to prevent HIV, hepatitis C, and skin and tissue infections. People who use syringe exchanges are three times more likely to reduce or stop their drug use than those who do not participate in syringe exchange services. Meeting drug users where they are is a simple yet profound act of love. When someone is used to being met with stigma and experiences acceptance exactly as they are in the syringe exchange, magic begins to happen between our staff and the participant. By building trust, we can help participants begin to make small changes to how they use, resulting in a safer drug user and in turn, a safer community.

Won't a syringe exchange program bring a lot of needles into my neighborhood?

No, harm reduction staff provide free sharps containers and teach people how to properly dispose of used needles using puncture-resistant household containers. Most of the needles given out by our syringe exchange are brought back to the office or placed in one of our syringe kiosks located throughout our region. Most people don’t realize that syringes can be bought in local pharmacies and online without a prescription. This creates a more unsafe community, as people aren’t provided with education or containers when they obtain them this way and end up reusing syringes much more often, resulting in a higher impact on our medical system.

Is it legal to give out syringes?

It is legal for Syringe Exchange Programs (or Syringe Services Programs), Expanded Syringe Access Programs, healthcare practitioners, healthcare facilities, and Licensed Pharmacies to give out syringes without a prescription.

NYS PENAL LAW 220.45:

A person is guilty of criminally possessing a hypodermic instrument when he or she knowingly and unlawfully possesses or sells a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic needle. It shall not be a violation of this section when a person obtains and possesses a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic needle pursuant to section thirty-three hundred eighty-one of the public health law, which includes the state's syringe exchange and pharmacy and medical provider-based expanded syringe access programs.

 

NYS PENAL LAW 220.03

A person is guilty of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree when he or she knowingly and unlawfully possesses a controlled substance; provided, however, that it shall not be a violation of this section when a person possesses a residual amount of a controlled substance and that residual amount is in or on a hypodermic syringe or hypodermic needle obtained and possessed pursuant to section thirty-three hundred eighty-one of the public health law, which includes the state's syringe exchange and pharmacy and medical provider-based expanded syringe access programs.

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