People outside Portland’s Health and Human Services Department on Forest Avenue on Wednesday wait to participate in the city’s syringe redemption program. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

A line formed outside Portland’s Health and Humans Services building on Forest Avenue on Wednesday afternoon.

Some people held paper grocery bags, others had bright orange containers, all filled with used syringes they’d found around the city and had come to exchange for cash.

It’s all part of the city’s new needle buyback program.

Since it launched on Jan. 14, city data show that 58% more needles have been returned to the exchange program than in the six weeks before the program began and city staff have seen fewer syringes discarded in the streets.

Nearly 200 people have signed up to participate, many of them homeless or struggling with addiction.

Bridget Rauscher, Portland’s public health director, said she views the program as a success so far.

“We are finding that people are returning more needles than they have to, which is beyond what we could have expected,” said Rauscher.

‘EXACTLY WHAT WAS INTENDED’

The program was established by the City Council in October using $52,000 from the city’s opioid settlement fund and is expected to last just one year.

Rauscher said she’s glad that the money can go back to the community most impacted by the opioid epidemic, while also cleaning up needle waste.

“This program is doing exactly what was intended,” she said.

To qualify, people just have to be enrolled in the needle exchange program, where the city gives away up to 100 clean needles for every dirty needle it receives.

Participants can turn in dirty syringes, earning 10 cents per needle with a cap of $20 — or 200 syringes — per person, per week.

Because the program has limited funding, the city can’t give out more than $1,000 each week and the money is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kevin Leonard Jr., 43, was outside the exchange holding a paper bag from Highroller Lobster Company, spilling over with dozens of used syringes.

“I’m very careful picking them up,” he said. “I pick them up on their sides and if they don’t have an orange cap I bend them so they cant be used again. I use hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes.”

Kevin Leonard Jr., 43, stands outside the Health and Human Services Department on Forest Avenue on Wednesday while waiting to exchange used syringes for cash under the city’s redemption program. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Leonard has been homeless for about three weeks. He said he and his girlfriend, who is pregnant, were kicked out of his parents’ house earlier this year and have been sleeping in doorways and occasionally setting up a tent.

Last time, he said, he made the full $20.

“I spent it on food. Two sandwiches, two drinks and a bag of candy for my wife. The Sour Patch Kids watermelon is her favorite,” he said.

Leonard said that while the cash is his main incentive for bringing in the needles, he’s also glad he can help clean up the streets. He said he doesn’t use them himself.

“I’m dead set against needles and I’m sick of seeing them on the ground. When I found out I could get money to get them off the street, I thought it’d be great,” he said.

EARLY SUCCESS

Rauscher said her department tracks the data closely so they can make improvements going forward. They look at how many needles people bring in, where they said they found them, how many days a week people come and what times of day are busiest.

“This data can tell us where there might be a larger concentration of needles in the city that we might be missing, or if we see people are bringing in more than the maximum that can help us understand if we need to offer a higher limit,” she said.

Already, they adjusted their opening hours to help more people to participate.

In the six weeks before starting the buyback program, 76,554 syringes were returned. In the first six weeks after it began, 120,793 were collected, city data shows. 

The city also reported a major decrease in the amount of needles city staff have collected — 1,677 compared to just 387 afterward, a 77% decrease.

But Rauscher said no major changes will be made until the program hits the six-month mark in July. She is hopeful it can adapt to garner as much participation as possible.

Her primary focus is making use of the money that has been allotted to the program, but of course, more funding would be great, she said.

‘WE NEED THE MONEY’

Charlie Richards had just turned in his needles for the day and climbed into his car — where he lives with his girlfriend — when a city staff member came outside and announced they couldn’t pay for any more needles that afternoon. It was 2:25 p.m. All of the money had been distributed for the day.

There were just a handful of people waiting outside by then. Someone groaned. Another person shook their head.

“We need the money,” someone shouted.

“We’re open again tomorrow morning,” the staff member said.

Richards, 54, is an addict and said he uses the money he makes from bringing in needles to buy drugs.

“I find them all around the park. I don’t want the kids playing with them and stuff,” he said. “It’s unethical to just throw your needles anywhere. If you’re going to be a drug addict, be a responsible one.”

Kevin Leonard Jr., 43, holds a bag of needles he planned to exchange for cash under the city’s syringe redemption program. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

Andrew Bove, vice president of social work at Preble Street which works closely with the homeless community, said he supports the program and hopes it will be funded again next year. He’s grateful that it is beginning to address syringe waste so that more important issues can take center stage.

“Discarded syringe waste is such a captivating and distracting problem, it is a public health concern, but it just takes up so much air space and attention and it galvanizes the public in a way that is really distracting,” said Bove.

He said Preble Street plans to advocate for more funding for the program and he hopes that as the program becomes more established and fewer needles are left on the streets, the focus can shift to more impactful ways to support the homeless population.

“This whole syringe thing really fueled stigma around this community,” said Bove. “Any opportunity to shift the public narrative back towards the macro level issues that are contributing to and perpetuating substance use in our communities is money well spent.”