Gary Judd has an atypical hobby: He provides clean syringes to intravenous drug users.

Judd, an HIV counselor with the DeKalb County Health Department, said no health departments in the country fund needle exchange work, so in his spare time, he provides the service to those drug users who inject their drugs of choice – an activity in no way sponsored by the department.

Judd said he gets needles from the Chicago Recovery Alliance, which is a program that provides needle exchanges, and other prevention and education services.

The Total Health Awareness Team (THAT) works with the Chicago Recovery Alliance as well.

THAT executive director Bryan Latham said the team provides needle exchanges for Rockford and the surrounding areas, as well for as rural areas that do not have such services, including DeKalb.

Although there is no needle exchange site in DeKalb, Latham said if funding comes through, one may be instituted next year. For now, participants can make arrangements with THAT for services.

He said the majority of the users in rural areas he has seen are 16- to 22-year-old white males and females who fall into the middle-income category – a group he did not expect as the majority.

Latham estimated about 50 users in the DeKalb area use THAT’s services, although that number may be more because of the number of people who collect syringes for others to use.

THAT works on the premise that effective needle exchange can reduce the risk of transmitting HIV and hepatitis.

Hepatitis and HIV are two potential outcomes of reusing syringes, said Sherilynn Spear, chair of the department of allied health professions.

For information about THAT, call 815-961-1269.

The legal side of syringe exchanges

Syringe exchanges used to be legal in Illinois because of a research exemption in the law. This is what allowed programs like THAT and the Chicago Recovery Alliance to operate.

Now, needle exchange programs exist with the help of recent legislation. Illinois Senate Bill 880 made syringes available without a prescription and made it legal for a person to possess up to 20 syringes as long as they are over 18, Latham said.

The law did not make a distinction between possession of clean or dirty syringes, Latham said, which is a large loophole allowing drug users to bring the dirty syringes in for exchange without fear of charges.

When someone joins the program, they are assigned a non-identifying participant code for the research program.

Beth Wehrman, dubbed “the needle lady,” is the program manager at Outreach Advocate and a registered nurse. Outreach Advocate covers sites along Interstate 74, including Galesburg, Peoria, Bloomington/Normal, the Quad Cities, Champaign and Urbana, Wehrman said. They also are under the Chicago Recovery Alliance.

Wehrman said the participant’s code includes gender, the person’s first initial, the date of birth and the first initial of the person’s mother’s first name.

This code helps identify whether people are members of the program if caught with “dirty” (used) syringes by law enforcement.

Latham said since the passing of the bill, he has noticed an increase in the cooperation of police officers. He said they help bring in dirty syringes for proper disposal.

When police arrest someone in the area for possession of syringes, Latham said they often call to see if the person is involved in the research, which exempts them from possession charges.

Wehrman said she has not enjoyed the same cooperation. She said before the law was changed, she was the only needle exchange worker arrested in Illinois for possession of syringes.

When a participant in Outreach Advocate is arrested, they may go to the program for help. Wehrman said since the new law was passed, there have been two cases in which a participant who has asked the program for help has gone to trial before charges were dropped.

In those cases, Outreach Advocate goes to court with the person charged.

Wehrman said she often has seen people wrongfully charged, even though they are in the program.

What syringe exchanges do

The purpose of the syringe exchange is to reduce risks to users and help involve the community, Latham said.

One-third to one-half of the HIV cases Judd works with can be directly or indirectly related to dirty needle use, he said.

Wehrman said the program tries to encourage positive change. She said people who inject drugs will use regardless, and those people are entitled to information and ways to do things in safer ways.

When her mother asked why she does what she does, she said the services help everyone by keeping people connected to the community so they can feel that positive change in their life is possible.

She said people who inject drugs tend to “treasure” their needles, and if they have to, will use needles repeatedly. Some even may resort to sharpening needles when they become dull.

This may put police officers, firefighters, emergency response personnel and others at risk of coming in contact with them. An example, she said, is when police pat subjects down. If there is a needle in a user’s pocket, that police officer may be poked by the needle, and therefore be at risk for contracting HIV or hepatitis.

There also is a risk while improperly disposing used needles. If the syringes are discarded carelessly, people in the general population or garbage disposal workers may come into contact with them.

Needle exchange programs seek to reduce these risks.

When a participant signs up for THAT, they are provided with a “10-pack,” or 10 clean syringes in a container safe for disposal of those needles, Latham said.

Spear said the key to proper disposal of used syringes rests in the container in which they are disposed.

The container must be unpenetrable by the dirty needle so no one will be poked by its tip, she said.

What else programs provide

THAT and Outreach Advocate also provide educational, counseling, support and referral services. They also provide testing services for HIV and hepatitis, as well as hepatitis vaccinations.

Wehrman said there is no single location for these services. Rather, she will travel to locations comfortable to the person seeking services, provided she is safe.

THAT has one permanent location, THAT Place, 614 Seventh St., Rockford, as well as six mobile fixed sites. The mobile fixed sites are 37-foot Winnebagos. One of those Winnebagos travels to six different sites around Rockford at predetermined times, Latham said. He said they are hoping to add two sites by next year if funding comes through.

THAT also provides Narcan, a drug used by medical professionals to save the lives of those who are overdosing, Latham said. He said drug users will not get a high from Narcan.

Those who request the drug must go through 45 minutes of in-service counseling.

There have been three lives saved because of Narcan provided by THAT that have been reported back to the program, Latham said.

Although THAT dispenses syringes in packs of 10 accompanied by a disposal container, more syringes may be sought by participants.

THAT is likely to give out as many as 400 or 500 at a time, depending on the participant’s location and how many people the participant is picking up syringes for.

Latham said more will be given out because of a fear that a participant will not come back if they are far away and will reuse the needles instead.

In order for a return participant to receive new needles, he or she must bring back used needles.

Latham said the amount of needles returned cannot be counted because they already are in the containers. He said the program used to get back an estimated one needle for every 10 given out. Now the number is estimated at nearly one for every one given out.

The controversy

Needle exchanges are not accepted by everyone.

Some feel that needle exchanges encourage drug use. To that, Judd said, there are no epidemiological studies that show any kind of link between access to clean syringes and increased drug use.

Data from studies do suggest, however, that syringe exchange programs reduce the risk of HIV and hepatitis.