A needle exchange won’t be opening in El Paso County for the foreseeable future.
The proposed program met quick — and occasionally stiff — opposition from most of the county’s nine Board of Health members during their meeting Monday morning.
Though no formal vote was held, a majority of the board told El Paso County Public Health employees not to pursue an agreement with a nonprofit to create an exchange along Colorado Springs’ west side — effectively killing the measure.
The exchange aimed to dispose of used syringes and offer free needles to people who inject drugs, as a means to combat the spread of hepatitis C and HIV amid a nationwide epidemic of heroin and illicit opioid use.
“There are other compassionate ways to address this that need to be brought forward,” said El Paso County Commissioner Longinos Gonzalez.
