WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:04.080 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There is a tragic history in this country when it comes to drug use 00:04.080 --> 00:09.080 and addiction. Too often, stigma and racism prevent recovery and healing. 00:09.520 --> 00:13.760 Jamie Favaro started a needle exchange program in 2005. 00:13.760 --> 00:18.640 She is also the founder of NEXT Distro, an online and mail-based platform 00:18.640 --> 00:23.640 that provides people who use drugs with lifesaving supplies, education and support. 00:24.160 --> 00:28.240 Tonight, her Brief But Spectacular take on how we see addiction. 00:28.240 --> 00:31.920 JAMIE FAVARO, Founder, NEXT Distro: There's critics of harm reduction all over the country. 00:31.920 --> 00:35.840 The most common thing we hear as harm reductionists is that we're enabling 00:35.840 --> 00:39.920 people to use drugs. Research study upon research study has proven that what we're 00:39.920 --> 00:44.920 doing does not increase substance use. It actually facilitates people getting into care. 00:49.040 --> 00:52.480 I began an underground syringe exchange in 2005. 00:52.480 --> 00:56.400 I basically stood outside on a street corner at night handing out needles. 00:56.400 --> 00:56.733 (LAUGHTER) 00:56.733 --> 01:01.733 JAMIE FAVARO: It was great because people were able to keep themselves safe and healthy and well, 01:02.080 --> 01:04.400 and, also, it was an opportunity to 01:05.120 --> 01:08.880 talk to people openly about their drug use, about their struggles, 01:08.880 --> 01:13.880 about what they wanted for their future. And that became a legal needle exchange program in 2007. 01:14.560 --> 01:19.560 People are using someone else's syringe. They're taking one syringe and they're using it 20, 01:20.800 --> 01:24.320 30 times. No one should be sharing needles. Sharing needles 01:24.320 --> 01:29.320 IS -- facilitates HIV and hepatitis C transmission. And there needs to be 01:29.680 --> 01:34.480 syringe access for people who use drugs, so they can protect themselves against diseases. 01:34.480 --> 01:37.600 a needle exchange is a place where people can come 01:37.600 --> 01:42.600 not just to access clean syringes and injection equipment. That's a piece of it. It's a much 01:42.720 --> 01:47.720 bigger story. It's a place where you can access case management, linkage to care, advocacy. You 01:47.840 --> 01:52.840 can get referrals into drug treatment. We had a health clinic run by Columbia medical students. 01:53.680 --> 01:58.680 Syringe exchange and harm reduction programs are not just places where people get clean needles. 01:58.880 --> 02:03.880 They create an atmosphere and an environment where someone who uses drugs can talk openly 02:05.120 --> 02:08.640 about their drug use and their struggles. Maybe they're not interested in going into 02:08.640 --> 02:12.160 drug treatment that day, but they want to know about what their options are. 02:12.160 --> 02:16.800 We're going to provide that information without trying to pressure them into going into drug 02:16.800 --> 02:21.800 treatment. Working in harm reduction for almost 20 years, it's been really difficult to see 02:24.080 --> 02:29.080 the kinder and gentler way that the media has approached opioid use. 02:30.960 --> 02:35.960 Now that white people are dying, we're blaming the Sackler family. We're blaming Purdue Pharma. When 02:36.480 --> 02:41.480 Black and brown people were dying of overdose, it was their fault. It was because they were immoral. 02:43.520 --> 02:48.520 The war on drugs has failed. And racialized drug policy is continuing to put poor people 02:50.720 --> 02:53.520 and Black and brown people in prison for using drugs, 02:53.520 --> 02:57.040 while white people are seen as victims of a pharmaceutical industry. 02:57.040 --> 03:02.040 It's been very important to prioritize communities of color and communities who have 03:02.080 --> 03:05.600 been systematically shut out of health care systems 03:05.600 --> 03:09.600 to ensure that those folks are the ones that receive care and service. 03:09.600 --> 03:14.600 My name is Jamie Favaro, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on drug user health. 03:14.960 --> 03:16.480 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: 03:16.480 --> 03:21.480 You can find all our Brief But Spectacular episodes on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.