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 Michigan include:

Access Northwest
Mancelona, Michigan

ACCESS Point
Sterling Heights, Michigan

Boots on the Ground
Belleville, Michigan

Cheboygan/Prevention Project
Cheboygan, Michigan

Chippewa County Health Department Syringe Access Program
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

Clean Works
Grand Rapids, Michigan

Community Health Awareness Group
Detroit, Michigan

Detroit Recovery Street Team Project
Detroit, Michigan

Exchange Central
Mt Pleasant, Michigan

Harm Reduction - Hamilton Lake Rd
Newberry, Michigan

Harm Reduction - Hombach St
St. Ignace, Michigan

Harm Reduction - Mobile
Mackinac Island, Michigan

Harm Reduction - Prospect St
Munising, Michigan

Harm Reduction - Walnut Street
Manistique, Michigan

HARM:LESS
Clinton Township, Michigan

NEXT Distro - MI
, Michigan

Points of Hope SSP
West Branch, Michigan

Punks with Lunch Lansing
Lansing, Michigan

RIGS Harm Reduction
Ypsilanti, Michigan

St Clair County Health Department
Port Huron, Michigan

The Prevention Project
Alpena, Michigan

Wellness Services, Inc
Flint, Michigan

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.