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Syringe Access
Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) reduce HIV and HCV infections and are an effective component of comprehensive community-based prevention and intervention programs that provide additional services. These include vaccination, testing, linkage to infectious disease care and substance use treatment, and access to and disposal of syringes and injection equipment.
SSPs are associated with an approximately 50% reduction in HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) incidence.
Also, SSPs are a key strategy of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, the nation’s 10-year plan to reduce new HIV infections in the United States by 75 percent in five years and by 90 percent by 2030.
How We Can Help
Caracole believes you deserve
to be healthy no matter whether you don’t use drugs at all, use them only occasionally or use them frequently. Our FREE services
include:
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Injectable Narcan/naloxone
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Nasal Narcan/naloxone
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Safer injection equipment, including cookers, cottons, alcohol pads, tourniquets, 1 oz. bottles of bleach, safer sex materials
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Fentanyl test strips
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Overdose prevention education
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Tests for HIV and hepatitis C
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Referrals to Social Services and Treatment
THURSDAYS
Site-based in Northside
5:00–7:30 PM
Caracole
4138 Hamilton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45223
In partnership with Hamilton County Public Health.
For more information, contact us at 513.399.6969 or email prevention@caracole.org.
Harm Reduction
Harm reduction recognizes that there will always be a percentage of the population who will engage in higher risk behavior, for a range of social, economic, mental health and personal reasons.
People who inject drugs can take the following steps to protect and reduce harm to themselves and others:
- Practice safer sex to prevent the spread of infection.
- Know, as much as you can, where your drugs are coming from; this will help you understand the strength to expect, what it may be mixed with and the possible toxicity.
- Reduce the amount of drugs consumed.
- Avoid using drugs alone.
- Use a different vein every time to inject.
- Always use new, rigs and fresh water, spoons, cotton.
- Always cook your drugs—you will not lose any drug if brought to a quick boil, all this does is kill off possibly harmful bacteria. Think of how street opiates and other drugs are transported and how unsanitary that can be.
- Dispose of used needles in sharps containers or another thick walled container with lid.
- Learn CPR and other first aid strategies.
- Consider an opiate substitute such as Suboxone or Methadone, this is a personal choice and may not be the right choice for everyone.
- Carry Naloxone to help reverse an opiate overdose.
- Access your local syringe access/exchange program, like Caracole's Syringe Services program, for a continuum of harm reduction services.
How to recognize an overdose:
harmreduction.org/issues/overdose-prevention/overview/overdose-basics/recognizing-opioid-overdose/
How to respond to an opioid overdose:
harmreduction.org/issues/overdose-prevention/overview/overdose-basics/responding-to-opioid-overdose/
Medication Assisted Treatments
Suboxone Maintenance: For some, Suboxone can be a great option for starting a life without the need for opiates and can help to stop the effects of withdraw. This drug contains Buprenorphine and Naloxone and works by blocking the receptors in the brain to which opiates attach. By blocking these receptors cravings for opiates subside and symptoms normally associated with opiate withdraw do not occur. The Cincinnati area has several Suboxone providers (listed below) that help with prescribing and maintaining this type of opiate substitute.
Methadone Maintenance: Methadone can be prescribed for people who are trying to deal with an addiction to opioids. It is a medication that is taken orally, helping to reduce or eliminate the need to inject heroine. When properly prescribed, people have reduced cravings or withdrawal. People taking methadone can function just the same as anybody else. Tolerance to methadone develops very slowly, so people can usually stay on the same dose for a long time. It is medically safe to take long term, even for many years. Methadone treatment helps people take control over their addiction.
Find Regional Area MAT Providers
Additional Resources
www.emeraldjennyfoundation.org
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Reach out to learn more:
Call/text 513.399.6969 or email prevention@caracole.org
Jayme Brogan
Harm Reduction Services Coordinator
she/her/hers
Billy Golden
Harm Reduction Services Coordinator
he/him/his
Rob Goeller
Harm Reduction Services Coordinator
he/him/his
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