CHARLESTON, W.Va.– Tonight the Charleston City Council will be coming back to the “needle bill” proposed by Mayor Danny Jones.
Charleston City Council voted on March 19 to table the measure for 60 days after Jones and public afety officials criticized the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s needle exchange program. A roundtable discussion with 13 council members took place regarding the benefits and risks of needle exchange programs on April 24 at the Charleston Area Alliance.
Charleston Police Chief Steve Cooper announced new regulations for the needle exchange on March 26, this limited the program to Kanawha County residents and mandated the use of retractable needles only. The health department announced later that day it was suspending the needle exchange program, because of a lack of time to adjust to the new rules.
If the proposal is voted into place, hypodermic needles would be made illegal once again therefore ending the needle exchange program.
“There’s 27 votes on council, and we’ll just have to see what happens,” Jones said during “580 Live” on MetroNews affiliate WCHS-AM.
Story by Jordyn Johnson