Pearl Evans
Appearances
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Thank you, Stan. So what this law does, I think I said it at the beginning, it allows syringe service programs to become legal. So before this law, individual syringe service programs did not have a legal definition. So now with the legal definition, they can operate in the state of Minnesota.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
It also allows for a syringe service program staff to not be fearful in working at a syringe service program. And then it goes on a little further to It doesn't say how many syringes a person, it doesn't limit the number of syringes a person could access when they go into a pharmacy. So a person could go in and say they want, you know, 20 syringes.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
And so this law allows them to get the number of syringes that they think they need for with the goal of reducing infectious diseases. And this law also, it allows folks to, and Eddie mentioned this earlier, it allows people who have, might have a crack pipe on them or some syringes on them.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
It allows them to be able to freely go to a syringe service program without fear of being arrested to exchange, get more syringes, meet with someone at a syringe service program to possibly explore services. So it allows folks who are currently using drugs
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
to have the freedom to be able to not feel stigmatized, not feel fearful when they are visiting a syringe service program or when they are visiting a Minnesota pharmacy looking to purchase syringes. So this bill allows folks to to access what they need to make a better choice in their use. And I'll turn it over to Eddie now.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So one thing that I'll say about the Steve Rumbler law is it was passed, Eddie, correct me, 2012. Is that correct? Or 2014?
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So Steve Rumbler law was passed to prevent, to remove the fear, the stigmatization of calling to get help for someone who was having an overdose. We were in the second round. maybe the third wave of the opioid crisis at the time. So at the time that law met the need. And there are some complications with Steve's law because it only covers the individual who made the call
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
And it's still up to the police to determine who will be arrested. So Steve Law, it was the first in the state of Minnesota to raise awareness around the overdose crisis. It was also the first law to destigmatize substance use and allow folks to get the help they need to save their loved one.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
or family member or as a passerby to save someone so that they could get the help and to reverse the overdose. But now that we are in what most folks are calling the fourth wave of the epidemic, we think the Steve Rumbler law, Good Samaritan law, can go a little further. And also one of the things about the Steve Brumler law is the police still has the power to determine who is arrested.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
And then there's also a cap on like if you have less than three grams, then you would not be arrested. So it was to protect people who were using to remove the fear so that they could call to get some help. but also not to allow individuals who were dealing drugs to have those same protections.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So where we are today in the overdose crisis, we think that Steve Rumbler's law can go a little further. And Eddie and I have talked about that, but I have not completely immersed myself in that piece. So I'll turn it over to Eddie and he can take a deeper dive in how the Steve Rumbler law can be expanded to meet the needs of where we are today in the fourth wave of the overdose crisis.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Thank you. I just want to say that this law allows us to meet folks where they are at in their journey and to make healthier decisions. And everyone in the state has a role to play in harm reduction and educating themselves on how to support individuals who might be in current use and Yeah, that's my final thoughts. We are on the road to play in harm reduction.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Thank you, Eddie. My name is Pearl Evans. I am a person of lived experience. I have been cleaning for the past seven years and I got involved in this work. Last year, I started having conversations with Eddie about harm reduction and what it looked like in Minnesota, the criminalization of Black folks. And I...
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Currently work at the Minnesota Department of Health, but on this legislation, I served in the role as a community member. So I just wanted to put that out there that I am here today and all of my work on the Minnesota Harm Reduction Collaborative is through my role as a person of lived experience. And I am excited to be here and to provide some education and be part of this conversation with
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Everyone, thank you. I'll turn it back over to Dr. Rhonda. Sure.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
Sure, I can definitely provide some destigmatized language around the topics of substance use and addiction. Well, addiction, substance use disorder is a chronic treatable condition. Opioid use disorder is also a treatable medical condition. And substance use disorder is, a way to destigmatize the language of addiction.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So how do we start using language that is non-stigmatizing when we're talking about addiction? So we use the term substance use disorder instead of addiction because addiction, it has stigma attached to it. And so the science has told us that using language Less stigmatizing language is helpful as we have conversations with folks about their current use.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
And it is also helpful for family and friends as they have knowledge on healthier terms to use as opposed to using addiction. Because addiction is stigmatized and it often makes folks who are currently in active use to feel less than.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So we want folks to feel comfortable in having conversations with their family, community members or doctors about their use and how they can get help with their use. So as we're talking about opioid use disorder, opioid use disorder is referred to, classifies the use of any opiate. So that's Percocet, oxycodone, methadone, heroin, any opiate. Opioid.
Health Chatter
2023 Decriminalization of Paraphernalia and Residue
So it's referred to as a disorder instead of an addiction. So those are the destigmatizing phrases to use when having conversations about substance use disorder and opioid use disorder.