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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Christine Khaikin, Attorney at Legal Action Center
1:26:13
ยท
143 sec
Christine Khaikin, an attorney from the Legal Action Center, testifies in opposition to Intro 868 and Intro 1169, arguing that these bills are overly broad and may lead to unintended consequences, including potentially increasing syringe litter and discouraging participation in harm reduction programs.
- Khaikin emphasizes that the bills could create increased surveillance opportunities, potentially driving services underground and reducing their effectiveness in reducing HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and overdose rates.
- She highlights concerns about the administrative burdens and data collection requirements in Intro 1169, which she believes could lead to increased stigma and potential liability for syringe service programs.
- Khaikin calls for the city to commit to resourcing Syringe Service Programs (SSPs) and fostering trust and partnership with participants and the community to address the ongoing issues.
Christine Khaikin
1:26:13
Hi and thank you to the committee.
1:26:15
My name is Christine Keiken, I'm an attorney with the Legal Action Center.
1:26:19
For over fifty years the Legal Action Center has been using legal and policy approaches to fight discrimination, build health equity for those living with substance use disorders and HIV or AIDS.
1:26:30
We fight to create affordable and equitable access to quality treatment and harm reduction services in New York and nationally and so I'm here today because we are deeply concerned about the two bills at issue eight sixty eight and eleven sixty nine and we oppose.
1:26:47
We understand the goals to address reports of increased syringe litter, we believe these two bills are extremely over broad not narrowly tailored and will lead to dangerous unintended consequences and may even actually lead to more syringe litter which would undermine the entire purpose and further one to one exchanges have proved to be ineffective and even dangerous.
1:27:09
Both of these bills by creating new and onerous restrictions create increased opportunity for surveillance of both the programs and their participants which time and again has only moved these services underground discouraging participation for fear of criminalization and reducing their overwhelming effectiveness at reducing HIV, hep b and c and overdose rates.
1:27:32
For the for August, I don't have a map in front of me but it's undeniable that many neighborhoods are obviously dense with playgrounds and parks making it near impossible for mobile providers to distribute syringes where they are needed most.
1:27:47
And the second bill eleven sixty nine is similarly concerning creative creating overwhelming administrative burdens, onerous data collection requirements and opportunities again for surveillance and potential liability.
1:28:01
Again and also the public reporting that focuses solely on syringe collection volume ignores highlighting the important successes of these programs and can even create more stigma in neighborhoods that are because of you know showing that they are failing at collecting the right amount of needles.
1:28:20
Overdose deaths for black and latine individuals are not showing signs of abating.
1:28:24
Right now it's incumbent on the council and the city to commit to resourcing SSPs, the only way to solve these apparent issues is to foster trust partnership and with the participants and the community.
1:28:36
Thank you so much.