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Council Member Marmorato questions DOHMH on syringe distribution practices and park safety
1:15:23
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117 sec
Council Member Kristy Marmorato engages in a heated exchange with Rebecca Linn-Walton from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene regarding syringe service programs and their impact on community safety. Marmorato expresses strong opposition to these programs, particularly their proximity to schools and parks in her district.
- Marmorato criticizes the practice of using free syringes to attract people to mobile service vans
- She demands immediate information on the location of sharps boxes in parks, stating they are not welcome in her district
- The exchange highlights the tension between harm reduction approaches and concerns about community impact
Kristy Marmorato
1:15:23
Thank you so much.
1:15:24
So you stated about, first it sounds like you're luring people to these vans with free syringes in order to give them education.
1:15:35
Shouldn't you just be focusing on the services and education?
1:15:39
Because that's what my office does and we're not giving them anything to come there.
1:15:43
They're coming there on their own free time.
1:15:45
And if they need help and they really want the help, they are coming to my offices.
1:15:49
So it sounds a little bit off to me.
1:15:52
And also about the distribution of the needles in front of schools, You said it's not fixed.
1:15:58
Those were your words.
1:16:00
But it's your job to fix this.
1:16:02
This is what your job is to make it appropriate.
1:16:05
I mean, you have to work on these things.
1:16:07
You can't just say, oh, well, this is the current system, and that's just not an acceptable answer.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:16:12
And I absolutely the health department is not saying it's fixed.
Keisha Candanito
1:16:16
You just said it.
Kristy Marmorato
1:16:17
Well, you're you're saying it's not fixed, but you you need to fix it.
1:16:20
You need to focus on
Gustavo Rivera
1:16:21
that.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:16:21
But that's why we come to work every day, and that's why I'm meeting with the community providers.
1:16:25
I'm meeting with community boards.
1:16:27
I'm going out doing outreach sometimes too and working with the teams of community members.
1:16:33
And so I definitely have to lean on decades of research saying that SSPs don't increase drug use, they don't increase overdose, and they reduce the community spread of infectious diseases that overdose.
Kristy Marmorato
1:16:45
Before my time is up, I just wanna hit are there currently sharp boxes in parks, in the bathrooms of parks?
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:16:53
Those are the kiosks so that people can safely dispose of it.
Kristy Marmorato
1:16:56
Do you have a any data as to where they are currently located and which parks?
1:17:02
Because I'm gonna start walking around to my parks, and if I find any of them in my parks, it's gonna be a big problem.
1:17:08
This is not welcome in District 13.
1:17:10
We don't enable people.
1:17:11
Okay?
1:17:12
And I would like that immediately.
1:17:14
I'd like somebody to send that information to my office immediately.
Rebecca Linn-Walton
1:17:17
We'll follow-up with parks.
1:17:18
Thank you.
Kristy Marmorato
1:17:19
Okay.
1:17:19
And I'm done.
1:17:20
Thank you.