“I was brought to a room at one point as a county employee, with major county and city staff, and basically told to shut up,” Amy Upham, who worked as opioid response coordinator for Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services (BCDHHS) from 2019-21, told an audience at Pack Memorial Library last week.
Many West Asheville residents say they recognize that addiction is not a crime, yet they’re unsure where to turn for help.
Prevention of infections is a crucial part of wound care and decreases the need for antibiotic use. But regularly accessing antibiotics, fulfilling prescriptions and taking medication can present obstacles for many people.
Shared concerns about crime and an understaffed Asheville Police Department fostered an unusual alliance in today’s partisan times. An advocacy group called Asheville Coalition for Public Safety formed in October, bringing together community members of all political stripes who are concerned about crime, mental health, drug use and the unhoused population.
In September 2018, Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe placed its first needle disposal boxes in its bathrooms. “We were finding needles in the bathroom on the floor,” explains lead bookseller Justin Souther. Sometimes, people would open the top of the toilet tank and hide used needles inside, he says.
Proposed state legislation filed in response to a years-long feud between an Asheville neighborhood and a local needle exchange could threaten syringe exchanges across North Carolina.
“High-quality studies demonstrate kratom increases overdose death risks.”
ASHEVILLE, N.C.
A group of West Asheville residents proposed changes to House Bill 972, the law that legalized needle exchanges throughout the state, that would greatly restrict where and the programs operate.
The Buncombe County Health and Human Services Department will offer syringe services at its 40 Coxe Ave. clinic beginning in July or August, joining the Needle Exchange Program of Asheville and the Steady Collective in providing supplies and education to reduce the harms associated with injection drug use.
“For a town that touts its ‘progressiveness,’ the city of Asheville has shown once again that it is only willing to take the measures that will make our town pretty for its tourists — not livable for its residents.”
