Greetings!
I have been so excited since the conference, and I returned to my methadone clinic here at San Francisco General Hospital determined to begin distributing clean needles to our patients who want them. Amazingly, I have strong support from the clinic leadership, and we are developing a protocol. Apparently, no other methadone clinic in California is currently distributing clean needles. Thus far there don't seem to be any insurmountable obstacles. At this point we are looking at providing needles for our own patients only, as there are too many complicated issues with serving other patients. However we hope that these clean needles will find distribution to other users in the broader community.
I'm interested in thoughts from any of you out there and advice about potential challenges. Also advice about needle disposal kits and other adjunctives would be great.
We are also moving forward with a naloxone distribution program which I hope to see in place for the new calendar year.
Thanks to all for the huge boost of energy coming out of our gathering!
--Brad Shapiro
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