More than half a dozen residents spoke out Monday against allowing a syringe exchange program to operate in Auburn.

The comments came at a public forum held by city officials who are considering a safe syringe program, in which people who use intravenous drugs can trade used needles for new ones, which experts say lowers the risk of disease spreading in the community.

The City Council has held several workshops over the last few months to learn about safe syringe programs, their role in regulating them, and how other communities with them have fared.

Among those who spoke out against a potential safe needle exchange ordinance was Auburn’s Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby, who argued that giving people using intravenous drugs clean needles was only harming them and others.

“It’s not safe for our children, it’s not safe for our citizens, it’s not safe for the addicts themselves, who these programs empower to harm themselves and harm our communities,” she said.

Former Councilor Steve Milks called addiction a humanitarian disaster. He heard the information given to councilors in the workshops but still thinks it is unclear how the safe needle exchange programs help people experiencing drug addiction.

“How does giving them the tools of their demise, how does that improve their recovery?” he asked. “And there is no evidence that it does but there’s a lot of evidence that it affects everybody else in society.”

Many of those who spoke argued that there should be more recovery programs established to help people quit using drugs rather than more programs giving out clean needles. 

Resident Audrey Murphy said the safe syringe exchange programs enable addiction and waste public resources. She argues that people using intravenous drugs should be given access to treatment, not clean needles.

“Recovery works, abstinence-based programs have recovery rates far higher than the harm reduction alone but they require commitment, not just clean syringes,” she said.

Some residents who work in Portland talked about their experience seeing used needle waste in areas frequented by the public.

Resident Nancy Pulk works near the river walk in Auburn and walks the area sometimes during her breaks, she said. She reports that “there are needles everywhere,” and that the area is not safe for her to walk by herself. She does not think it is right to give people a safe place to use intravenous drugs.

Councilors will have another workshop Jan. 5 to further discuss the needle exchange ordinance and what they would like to see in it.