Demand for Drug Syringes Spikes in Portland

The number could also be a sign that intravenous drug users are more likely to be destitute than they were three years ago.

By Rachel Monahan

Last year, Multnomah County's needle exchange program distributed a record number of syringes: more than 3 million. That's a 59 percent increase from three years ago. The program, aimed at keeping intravenous drug users safe from HIV and other diseases, hasn't expanded or received new funding. Demand has simply increased.

That number suggests intravenous drug use could be climbing even as the number of deaths from heroin overdoses has fallen in recent years. In the two years between 2012 and 2014, the availability of the drug naloxone to treat heroin overdoses helped decrease the number of heroin deaths in the country from 92 to 56.

The number could also be a sign that intravenous drug users are more likely to be destitute than they were three years before and are turning to the county for needles. In August 2016, 51 percent of people visiting the county's syringe exchange were homeless—a 20 percentage-point jump from August 2010.

needle-graph (Austin Kowitz)

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