HYANNIS – A controversial needle exchange program run by the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod in Hyannis will continue under a court order issued Tuesday.
The Barnstable Board of Health had issued a cease and desist order against the program on September 23, but agreed to a one week suspension last week to allow the town and the agency to reach some type of compromise.
The initial cease and desist was approved amid growing concern about discarded, dirty needles that are increasingly showing up in downtown Hyannis.
Needles have been found in public bathrooms and around the Village Green.
The board was scheduled to revisit the issue Tuesday afternoon, but the AIDS Support Group sought protection from the court prior to the meeting.
“There was some great progress made, but they chose not to continue to go forward. So, again, I think based on the vote that was taken last week, there’s not much more that we can do because it was a one week suspension,” said Board of Health Chairman Wayne Miller, who was upset the group decided to pursue court action instead of continuing the dialogue.
Attorney Bennett Klein with Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Defenders, who is helping represent the AIDS Support Group, said they took the action because there was no guarantee of what action the board of health would have taken.
Klein said it was a matter of health and safety for their clients, whom he maintains would be put at risk if they are unable to get clean needles. He said it was likely that clients who had been unable to get clean needles during the cease and desist transmitted or contracted hepatitis C.
“Without people coming to obtain clean needles it is likely, without also getting Narcan, that there will be opiote overdoses, some fatal,” said Klein
Miller was upset by the decision to seek an injunction, saying the health of both the public and the clients of the agency were being put at risk.
The town has cited a 1993 law in trying to ban the free needles, while the AIDS Support Group points to a 2006 state law that decriminalized the possession and distribution of hypodermic needles.
Barnstable Assistant Town Attorney Charles McLaughlin said they’ll spend the next few days preparing for the next phase of the case.
“There’s a narrow legal question about what the legislative intent is here, or lack of intent, and that’s one aspect of it,” McLaughlin said.
A Barnstable Superior Court judge will hold a full hearing on the issue Nov. 20.
By MATT PITTA, CapeCod.com News Director
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