美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Church Of Safe Injection' Offers Needles, Naloxone To Prevent Opioid Overdoses

 

SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE¹: The staggering number of opioid overdose deaths in this country is prompting people to take action even when they could be arrested for what they choose to do. In cities across the country, a group called the Church of Safe Injection is handing out clean supplies such as needles for using drugs. They say they have to step up because the public health system failed. Deborah Becker from our member station WBUR visited some volunteers in Maine.

DEBORAH BECKER, BYLINE: On a bitter cold afternoon in a park in front of the central bus stop in Bangor, about a half dozen people surround a folding table covered with handmade signs. They're offering free clean syringes and naloxone, also known as Narcan, the drug that reverses an opioid overdose.

DAVE CARVAGIO: We have some safe-use supplies, which would be cookers, straps², cottons.

BECKER: This man goes by Dave Carvagio, even though that's not his real name. He doesn't want to be identified because it's illegal in Maine to have more than 10 hypodermic syringes unless you're a certified³ needle exchange. Police cars sometimes circle the park, but no one's been arrested yet.

Oh, there's a police car right there. Police ever stop and talk to you or anything like that?

CARVAGIO: There's one officer who's come and talked to us a couple times.

BECKER: But this time, the police car keeps driving. Carvagio's a member of the group called the Church of Safe Injection. He says its mission is to help prevent diseases and overdose deaths.

CARVAGIO: I believe that there's a - not just, like, a moral duty to violate unjust laws but in this circumstance a spiritual duty.

BECKER: Bangor Police Sergeant⁴ Wade⁵ Betters says the group's focus should be on getting people into treatment.

WADE BETTERS: You know, if you're committing a crime in the state of Maine, yeah, you could be subject to arrest or ticketed. But in these particular cases, we generally use a lot of discretion⁶ because, again, the goal is the same - to save lives.

BECKER: At the next stop in Lewiston, police have warned volunteers there not to hand out syringes in a local park, reminding them it's illegal. But that hasn't really stopped them.

KANDICE CHILD: There's one, two - there's three salines.

BECKER: Kandice Child is in a car packed full of boxes of syringes and other drug-using equipment. Child arranged meeting spots to give people their supplies. They stop at a street corner where two young men wait as she rummages⁷ through the boxes.

CHILD: I'm going to give you 100. OK. What about alcohol wipes? You need any of those?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Yeah, actually.

BECKER: Child says she does this because she has a family member who's struggling. She also says there are only six certified needle exchange programs in Maine, none in Lewiston.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Thank you.

CHILD: You're welcome. God bless you.

BECKER: Child says she's willing to risk arrest because she believes she's doing what government health officials should be.

CHILD: Why wait? Should we all sit around and talk and point fingers, or should we all get off our [expletive] and go do something about it? This helps. It works. It saves lives because it reduces HIV and reduces hepatitis.

BECKER: We head to a third-floor apartment where three people are waiting to trade containers filled with used syringes for clean ones.

CHILD: OK, so I've got 60. Do you want some fentanyl test strips?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Please.

BECKER: A 36-year-old man who didn't want to be identified because he's using drugs is uneasy. He says he's glad to get the clean equipment. But he admits he's conflicted about whether these supplies make it easier for him to use drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: The reason I struggle is this - the inner conflict, you know? This is preventative maintenance. Yet, at the same time, it's enabling, you know?

BECKER: Even the founder⁸ of the Church of Safe Injection, 26-year-old Jesse Harvey, admits that he's struggled with the same questions. But after working in addiction⁹ recovery, Harvey says he's become frustrated¹⁰ by the deaths and the barriers to treatment. Harvey plans to register the church as a nonprofit and then argue for a religious exemption¹¹ from drug laws. He says the Supreme¹² Court's already ruled that a religious group is allowed to use an illegal psychedelic in its rituals. And Harvey's quick to say he's not advocating legalizing drugs.

JESSE HARVEY: No, not at all. We're saying that it's our sincerely held religious belief that people who use drugs don't deserve to die when there are decades of solutions.

BECKER: Harvey hopes his church, which he says has 18 branches in eight states, eventually will have a location that will include a site where people could inject drugs under supervision¹³. For now, though, his congregants will continue risking arrest to hand out supplies. For NPR News, I'm Deborah Becker.

(SOUNDBITE OF ONO'S "I'M MOVING ON (FRANKIE AND ERIC'S DIRECTORS CUT MIX)")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 straps   

n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• the shoulder straps of her dress 她连衣裙上的肩带
• The straps can be adjusted to suit the wearer. 这些背带可进行调整以适合使用者。

3 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

6 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

7 rummages   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Susan rummages around for a cod and cuts off a fillet. 苏珊翻滚着一条鳕鱼并且切下了一块鱼排。
• In New Orleans, an unseen killer rummages through Ellis' belongings looking for clues. 在新奥尔良，一个看不清面目的杀手翻找着埃利斯的随身物品，寻找线索。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

10 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

13 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。