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Heated testimony on bill to bar mobile syringe programs within 2,000 feet of schools; public health warns of unintended harms
Summary
Sponsors said SB 15 73 would protect children by creating a 2,000-foot buffer and civil remedies for violations; public health officials, harm-reduction experts and rural health representatives warned the measure’s broad definitions and punitive liability could reduce access to lifesaving services and increase disease transmission, and proposed narrower alternatives.
A Senate committee on Thursday heard sharply divided testimony on Senate Bill 15 73, which would prohibit mobile or temporary syringe service programs (SSPs) from operating within 2,000 feet of schools or licensed childcare facilities and allow private civil suits and statutory damages for violations.
Senator Christine Drazen, the bill sponsor, framed the proposal as a response to neighborhood reports of needles and drug paraphernalia near schools and businesses and cited rising overdose deaths in Oregon — testimony referenced 1,900 overdose deaths in 2023 and 1,480 in 2024 — to justify stronger neighborhood protections and local accountability. Representative Darcy Edwards, co-chief sponsor, described a civil enforcement…
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