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WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There is a 
tragic history in this country 
when it comes to drug use

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and addiction. Too often, stigma and 
racism prevent recovery and healing.

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Jamie Favaro started a needle 
exchange program in 2005.

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She is also the founder of NEXT Distro, 
an online and mail-based platform

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that provides people who 
use drugs with lifesaving 
supplies, education and support.

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Tonight, her Brief But Spectacular 
take on how we see addiction.

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JAMIE FAVARO, Founder, NEXT 
Distro: There's critics of harm 
reduction all over the country.

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The most common thing we hear as harm 
reductionists is that we're enabling

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people to use drugs. Research study upon 
research study has proven that what we're

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doing does not increase substance 
use. It actually facilitates 
people getting into care.

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I began an underground 
syringe exchange in 2005.

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I basically stood outside on a street 
corner at night handing out needles.

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(LAUGHTER)

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JAMIE FAVARO: It was great because 
people were able to keep themselves 
safe and healthy and well,

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and, also, it was an opportunity to

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talk to people openly about their 
drug use, about their struggles,

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about what they wanted for their 
future. And that became a legal 
needle exchange program in 2007.

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People are using someone else's 
syringe. They're taking one 
syringe and they're using it 20,

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30 times. No one should be 
sharing needles. Sharing needles

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IS -- facilitates HIV and hepatitis 
C transmission. And there needs to be

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syringe access for people who 
use drugs, so they can protect 
themselves against diseases.

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a needle exchange is a 
place where people can come

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not just to access clean syringes 
and injection equipment. That's 
a piece of it. It's a much

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bigger story. It's a place where 
you can access case management, 
linkage to care, advocacy. You

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can get referrals into drug 
treatment. We had a health clinic 
run by Columbia medical students.

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Syringe exchange and harm reduction 
programs are not just places 
where people get clean needles.

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They create an atmosphere and 
an environment where someone 
who uses drugs can talk openly

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about their drug use and their struggles. 
Maybe they're not interested in going into

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drug treatment that day, but they want 
to know about what their options are.

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We're going to provide that 
information without trying to 
pressure them into going into drug

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treatment. Working in harm 
reduction for almost 20 years, 
it's been really difficult to see

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the kinder and gentler way that the 
media has approached opioid use.

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Now that white people are dying, 
we're blaming the Sackler family. 
We're blaming Purdue Pharma. When

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Black and brown people were dying 
of overdose, it was their fault. 
It was because they were immoral.

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The war on drugs has failed. 
And racialized drug policy is 
continuing to put poor people

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and Black and brown people 
in prison for using drugs,

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while white people are seen as 
victims of a pharmaceutical industry.

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It's been very important to 
prioritize communities of 
color and communities who have

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been systematically shut 
out of health care systems

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to ensure that those folks are the 
ones that receive care and service.

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My name is Jamie Favaro, and 
this is my Brief But Spectacular 
take on drug user health.

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WILLIAM BRANGHAM:

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You can find all our Brief But 
Spectacular episodes on our Web 
site, PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.