Despite the lifesaving potential of these kinds of programs, syringe exchanges were federally banned at the national level from 1988 to 2015. A study published in the International Journal on Drug Policy attributes the end of the ban to shifting perspectives and lessons learned during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The rise of HIV infection related to the growth of the opioid epidemic in the early 2010s was powerful enough to sway politicians who had been reluctant to embrace syringe exchanges. States in the years since passed their own laws to create exchange programs. Most recently, a bill authorizing community syringe exchanges passed in the Nebraska Legislature but was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jim Pillen.

Syringe exchanges in Massachusetts include:

Access HOPE
Mashpee, Massachusetts

AHOPE: Boston Public Health Commission
Boston, Massachusetts

ASGCC Falmouth
Falmouth, Massachusetts

ASGCC Hyannis
Hyannis, Massachusetts

ASGCC Martha's Vineyard
Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts

ASGCC Provincetown
Provincetown, Massachusetts

Berkshire Harm Reduction
North Adams, Massachusetts

Harm Reduction & Syringe Access Program - Greenfield
Greenfield, Massachusetts

Harm Reduction & Syringe Access Program - Springfield
Springfield, Massachusetts

Healthy Streets Outreach Program- Lynn
Lynn, Massachusetts

Manet Community Outreach and Prevention Services
Quincy, Massachusetts

Mobile Prevention Team
Boston, Massachusetts

ONESTOP Harm Reduction Center
Gloucester, Massachusetts

Program RISE
Framingham, Massachusetts

Syringe Services Program of Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts

Critics often argue that needle exchanges promote drug use at the expense of taxpayer dollars, or that they feel unsafe around the people with substance use disorder that use them.

Research conducted over three decades, however, shows that syringe exchange programs provide a benefit to communities, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A 2019 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that syringe exchange programs reduced HIV diagnoses by as much as 18%. They've also been shown to save taxpayers money. In Indiana, a state-implemented syringe exchange program is expected to save taxpayers $120 million. People who use syringe service programs are also five times more likely to begin a drug treatment program and three times as likely to quit injection drug abuse, according to the CDC.

This story features data reporting by Elena Cox, writing by Dom DiFurio, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.