PAGE A2, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
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Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 6 pm. “Maze Ruuner”
THANKSGIVING BREAK MATINEES - All Week
UFC 194 - Aldo vs. McGregor - Sat, Dec. 12
Today in History
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a V-shaped black granite
wall designed by Maya Lin and inscribed with names of the
57,939 Americans who died in the confl ict, is dedicated in
Washington, D.C.
— November 13, 1982
Food 4 Thought
“No event in American history is more misunderstood
than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and it is
misremembered now.”
- Richard M. Nixon
The Month Ahead
Friday, November 13
Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful opens tonight at
Pentacle Theatre. The show runs through Dec. 5. Visit
pentacletheatre.org for show times and tickets.
Saturday, November 14
Willamette Valley Genealogical Society meets at 1 p.m. in
the Life Source Community Room at Candalaria Terrace
(2649 Commercial Street SE, Salem). Mary Rains will
speak about using the Internet to research in Canada.
Monday, November 16
Keizer City Council meeting, 7 p.m. in council chambers at
Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Tuesday, November 17
Harm reduction offers hope in increments
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
Chris Gray is in the busi-
ness of starting conversations
with injection drug users.
“Once someone engages
you and says, ‘I want to use
a clean needle,’ that’s the be-
ginning of some sort of con-
templation,” said Gray, harm
reduction outreach specialist
for the Benton County Health
Department.
The Benton County harm
reduction program is one of
the nearest harm reduction
and needle exchange programs
to Keizer. Marion County of-
fers no such service and calls
and e-mails for comment on
the current status of the local
conversation went unreturned.
However, such programs
are proven in their effective-
ness when it comes to not
only weaning drug abusers
off their habits, but containing
outbreaks of potentially lethal
diseases such as Hepatitis C
and HIV. Earlier this year, Aus-
tin, Indiana, was the epicenter
of one such outbreak – nearly
150 cases of HIV were diag-
nosed in a short span of time
after widespread needle-shar-
ing was uncovered.
Benton County’s program
offers a 24/7 needle drop box,
a decentralized network of
secondary needle exchange
nodes, rapid HIV and Hep C
testing, access to Hepatitis A
and B vaccinations and can
even hook up users with de-
toxifi cation centers and pro-
vide transport. All of it is free
of cost to those in need and
the supplies only set the coun-
ty general fund back about
$38,000 per year.
“There’s additional out-
reach prevention time, but
that’s what it is for materi-
als and supplies,” said Char-
lie Fautin, deputy director of
Benton County Health De-
partment.
In return, more than 50,000
needles are kept off the street
and out of landfi lls each year.
Getting started
When Benton County be-
gan looking at the possibility
of offering a harm reduction
program in 2002, offi cials
started by talking with anyone
who might have a stake in the
Keizer Points of Interest Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m.
in council chambers at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa
Road NE.
Volunteer Coordinating Committee meeting, 6 p.m. at
Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Oregon Symphony Association in Salem presents Mozart’s
Piano Concerto No. 27 with pianist Franceso Piemontesi.
Also on the program: Concerto for Orchestra, Brahms’
Symphony No. 3. orsymphonysalem.org.
Greater Gubser Neighborhood Association meeting, 7 p.m.
at Gubser Elementary School.
Saturday, November 21
Whiteaker Middle School’s annual Stuff the Bus food
drive. Deliver perishable food to school bus in the Keizer
Safeway parking lot, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
issues surrounding injection
drug use.
They started by surveying
as many active injection drug
users as they could fi nd, about
150.
“About 53 percent of the
users surveyed said they fre-
quently, often or always shared
needles,” said Fautin. “But we
also surveyed them as to what
services they would use to
help them get off drugs.”
Fautin said offi cials spent
the better part of a year in
community
conversations
with local leaders about the
science behind harm reduc-
tion programs and attempted
to allay fears about what such
programs represent. Harm re-
duction programs often spark
two polarizing views. They are
either cast as “enabling abus-
ers” or “saving lives,” and Fau-
tin said Benton County met
with both types of individuals.
“The compelling argu-
ments were preventing infec-
tion and preventing health
care costs, but the enable-
ment argument comes up all
the time. There are those who
believe that zero-tolerance is
the only approach, but there is
consistent research that shows
harm reduction programs de-
ter the transmission of blood-
borne diseases,” Fautin said.
Washington state was an
early adopter of syringe ex-
change to curb transmission
of HIV and hepatitis among
sudoku
Thursday, November 19
Friday, November 20
c hasing
Dark
Enter digits
from 1-9 into
the blank
spaces. Every
row must
contain one
of each digit.
So must every
column, as
must every
3x3 square.
drug injectors. Now, its rate of
cumulative AIDS cases attrib-
utable to injecting drug use is
the fi fth lowest in the nation.
One study found every $1
invested in syringe exchange
saves $3 to $7 in HIV treat-
ment costs.
Fautin said some of the
harm reduction program’s big-
gest supporters are now law
enforcement and solid waste
disposal suppliers.
“We get quite a bit of sup-
port from law enforcement
because they don’t want to pat
someone down and fi nd nee-
dles. We’ve also gotten support
from the solid waste disposal
folks because they don’t want
their employees in danger
while carting away a trash can
fi lled with sharps,” Fautin said.
When budgets are tight, the
program usually ends up in
the crosshairs, but the science-
founded arguments have kept
Benton County’s harm reduc-
tion program going.
Establishing harm reduc-
tion programs at the local level
is also easier now than it was
in 2002. The North American
Syringe Exchange Network
offers start-up kits for new
needle exchanges, $1,200 gets
the organization credit with
the Buyers’ Club and is equal
to about 14,000 syringes or a
combination of syringes and
other supplies. There is cur-
rently a ban on using federal
funds to establish and operate
harm reduction/needle ex-
change programs.
How it works
While Benton County of-
fers the drop box for round-
the-clock disposal, county of-
fi cials rely on a decentralized
network of distribution part-
ners to get most of the used
needles off the streets.
“One of the basic prin-
ciples is reducing harm to
the self and others,” said Gray.
“The way we operate now is
we make contact with leaders
in local communities and they
can be someone in a homeless
camp or a trailer park or just
someone in their own home.
Most of them have Hep C or
HIV and they have a vested
interest in reducing harm to
others.”
Those individuals are se-
lected to operate secondary
exchange sites and given sup-
plies of needles to exchange
for used ones and sharps con-
tainers to collect used needles
being turned in. Gray and the
county operate the second-
ary exchanges on the honor
system. Sometimes secondary
exchangers don’t even need to
give their full name.
“We’ve been very lucky to
have low turnover in Chris’s
position and that’s given us a
lot of street credibility to make
the right contacts with people
in a position to help us,” Fau-
tin said.
Gray also offers rapid HIV
and Hep C testing that he per-
forms out in the community
away from the spaces – county
health clinics – where some
might fear “an ambush” by
government employees.
A solution in stages
While harm reduction pro-
grams are by no means an end-
all solution to injection drug
abuse, Gray said keeping the
focus on incremental improve-
ment shows their effectiveness.
“Seeing
someone
go
through the stages of harm re-
duction is the most powerful
thing. They’ll move from us-
ing and sharing needles to not
sharing to using less to decid-
ing to go into rehab to asking
if I can get them a bed in a de-
tox center,” Gray said.
Fautin said buying into
such programs requires doing
the legwork of starting com-
munity conversations, but also
fundamentally shifting percep-
tions of drug abusers.
“People tend to think of
addicts and users as totally ir-
responsible. It increases im-
pulses and reduces inhibition,
but there are people dealing
with HIV or Hep C and they
want to protect their friends
and acquaintences who are at
risk,” he said.
Fautin has been surprised in
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Saturday, November 21 – Sunday, November 22
Old Fashion Christmas, Jackman-Long Building at Oregon
State Fairgrounds. A nostalgic celebration of the holidays.
Arts, crafts, antiques, food, live entertainment. Admission
is $4. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.- 5
p.m. Sunday. www.centraloregonshows.com.
Sunday, November 22
The Creation, considered Joseph Haydn’s greatest work,
will be presented by Festival Chorale Oregon, 4 p.m. at the
Historic Elsinore Theatre. Tickets are $20, $15 for seniors,
$5 for students. festivalchorale.org.
Tuesday, November 24
Keizer Public Arts Commission meeting, 6 p.m. in council
chambers at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Road NE.
Thursday, November 26
Turkey Dash 5K Fun Run/Walk presented by the Keizer
Chamber of Commerce. Registration opens at 7 a.m., race
starts at 8 a.m. www.keizerchamber.com.
Friday, November 27 – Sunday, December 13
The 1940s Radio Hour at the Historic Grand Theatre,
downtown Salem. Presented by Enlightened Theatrics.
Performances 7:30 p.m. Wed-Sat. and 2:30 p.m.
matinees on Sundays. Tickets range from $15-$20.
enlightenedtheatrics.org. 503-585-3427.
Friday, December 4
The Trail Band performs traditional music at their
annual Salem Holiday performance, 7:30 p.m. at the
Elsinore Theatre. Tickets range from $25.50 - $40. www.
elsinoretheatre.com
Saturday, December 12
Sons of Norway’s ‘Famous’ Scandinavian Bake & Craft
Sale. 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Salem Masonic Temple, 1625 Brush
College Road NW. Come early for lefse. 503-910-3302.
Saturday, December 12-Sunday, December 13
Whiteaker Middle School Concert Choir and
the
Willamette Master Chorus perform Vivaldi’s Gloria.
Performances at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. on
Sunday. Visit willamettemasterchorus.org for tickets.
CONCEAL CARRY
PERMIT CLASS TH
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16
1PM -or- 6PM at Keizer Civic Center, 930 Chemawa Rd NE
Oregon - Utah (Valid 35 States)
OR /Utah:
Valid in WA
$80 or Oregon
only $45
3 WAYS TO SIGN UP!
CALL: 360 -921-2071
WEB: www.FirearmTrainingNW.com
EMAIL: FirearmTrainingNW@gmail.com