LEWISTON — Councilors opted Tuesday evening to send a needle exchange ordinance amendment to referendum after a petition gaining enough signatures succeeded in bringing the issue before the council.

The amendment would limit one clean needle per exchange and a maximum of 20 exchanges per day. It also prohibits mobile exchange units and requires exchange programs to operate from one location.

The petition succeeded in garnering 966 signatures, more than the 941 required to make the Nov. 3 ballot. 

According to City Clerk Kathy Montejo, the petition had two routes for the amendment to become enacted: by a council vote in favor of enactment or for the council to pass the amendment on to referendum.

Faced with the process of sending the amendment to a first reading before a future vote, councilors, in a 7-0 vote, decided the proper path forward would be to send it to voters.

Ward 7 Councilor Bret Martel said he would prefer to see the amendment go to referendum because he thought the process to enact it would drag out and ultimately fail.

“I would like to see this get adopted by this body, or at least moved towards that process,” Martel said, “(But) I don’t believe that it will pass. So, I am willing to support sending this to referendum immediately, helping clear up the agenda … I do believe this should be adopted.”

Council President David Chittim of Ward 6 said he supports sending the amendment to voters on principle. 

“I did sign the petition because I do believe the public ought to weigh in on this,” Chittim said. “I made my decision and position clear when we passed the ordinance initially. I will tell you I intend to vote against this when it goes to referendum, but the public has a voice. That’s my position.”

Former Councilor Eryn Soule attempted to bring similar language forward for a one-to-one needle exchange and a cap of 35 syringes per day while on the council last year, but she was outvoted. The prevailing ordinance did not specify syringe exchange limits, but did allow for a provider to operate from up to two locations. 

Soule and her husband, Marcel Leclair, circulated the amendment petition for several weeks before it was accepted by Montejo’s office in late June. 

The couple and others across the state have blamed syringe services for litter and public drug use. Public health experts have said exchange programs have significantly reduced the spread of blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis C and that there is no evidence they cause more litter.