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Lewiston planning staff present draft ordinance to license and limit syringe service programs; council asks for expert input
Summary
City planning staff presented a draft ordinance to license state-certified syringe service program (SSP) providers, require fixed sites, impose 1-to-1 exchange limits, set buffer zones and limit providers to two; councilors asked for subject-matter expert testimony and raised concerns about zoning impacts, client privacy and program hours.
John Connor, Lewiston's director of Planning and Code Enforcement, presented draft ordinance language for licensing and regulating syringe service programs (SSPs), describing a local framework the city could use to oversee state-certified providers.
Connor said the draft aims to address needle litter and public health by imposing city-level licensing and operational standards in addition to state certification. He told the council that, since 2020, "according to the Maine CDC's own annual reports, Maine SSPs ... have a statewide delta ... of nearly 1,500,000 needles," and that Lewiston alone reported a delta of roughly 125,000 needles in 2023.
Key elements in the draft ordinance presented by Connor include dual authorization (state…
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