Indiana lawmakers are weighing whether to extend legalized syringe exchange programs that operate in six counties, programs that could otherwise shut down in July 2026. Supporters of the effort say the sites reduce infections and help people access treatment, while opponents argue the exchanges undermine efforts to get users into care.
The legislative focus is Senate Bill 91, filed by Republican Sen. Michael Crider, which would keep syringe exchanges operating across Indiana for another decade. The programs were legalized in 2015 after a major HIV outbreak in Scott County in southern Indiana that health officials linked to drug injections, and as the opioid epidemic accelerated with fentanyl.
“People are going to use drugs no matter what,” said Carrie O’Brien, director of the syringe program at the Damien Center, according to the report. O’Brien said, “All we can do is be here and ensure they’re doing that in the safest way possible until they’re ready to make a positive change.”
One account comes from Morgan Bryant, who went to her first syringe exchange in 2023. At the Damien Center, Bryant exchanged used needles for clean supplies and boxes of naloxone, and staff also helped treat wounds related to injecting, the report said. Bryant later connected with a 28-day program and a recovery house, and she described being almost two years sober at the time of the story.
Bryant said, “When you’re using, you’re basically dead,” adding, “I made it out of the graveyard.” She said she still goes to the Damien Center for naloxone, carrying it in her purse and glovebox, and she described spending time baking cookies and watching a program with her grandchildren.
In Indianapolis, the report said nearly 6,000 people used a syringe exchange in the past two years. The exchanges are free and anonymous, though sites track how many people show up each day. The report also said syringes cannot be purchased with taxpayer dollars in Indiana, so exchanges rely on donations and private funding.
Marion County declared a public health emergency in 2018 as hepatitis C cases rose from injection drug use, and in 2019 the city launched syringe exchange sites to curb transmission, the report said. Data provided by the Marion County Public Health Department shows hepatitis C cases fell by about 60% after five years of the program, and new HIV infections from injection drug use also dropped, according to that data.
The report further said more than 47,000 doses of naloxone were given out between 2024 and 2025, and participants reported using the medication to reverse about 1,700 overdoses. Crider said in comments to Mirror Indy that lawmakers should treat addiction as health care rather than punishment, telling the outlet: “We are treating addiction not as a moral failure, but a health problem,” and “You get a window of opportunity to help people,” adding, “This is one tool I want to see available.”
Still, the bill’s prospects face resistance within Crider’s own party. The report said last summer the Trump administration restricted federal funding for harm reduction programs, including needle exchanges, and that in an executive order President Donald Trump wrote the public health approach “facilitates illegal drug use.” At a Senate committee meeting on Jan. 7, Republicans questioned whether syringe exchanges are effective at getting people into treatment.
During the same meeting, the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council opposed extending the program, the report said. Chris Daniels, IPAC’s senior traffic safety resource prosecutor, said some syringe exchanges are causing a “proliferation of needles” and facilitating drug use, and when pressed by lawmakers he could not provide data but said he is hearing concerns from law enforcement across Indiana.
Sen. La Keisha Jackson, a Democrat representing Indianapolis’ east side and a co-author of Crider’s bill, said stigma keeps people from recognizing the exchanges’ public health benefits. “We’re not encouraging the syringe program to continue drug use,” Jackson told Mirror Indy, according to the report, saying the program is effective at reducing injections and assisting people in recovery.
SB 91 passed out of committee and is now before the full Senate, the report said, but its outcome remains in question. One amendment proposed by Sen. Aaron Freeman would limit who could use the exchanges by requiring people to bring IDs and prove their residency. Crider said the proposed change would hurt the bill, telling Mirror Indy: “If somebody realizes they need help and this is a step, it should be available no matter where they live.”
In a scene at the Damien Center, the report described a bulletin board that reads “End the war on people who use drugs,” with people waiting in the program’s last hour on Jan. 13. A woman who recently used naloxone on a stranger asked for two doses, telling staff, “I don’t know if they made it or not,” and later, “I want everything.” Before leaving in the winter cold, she scheduled an appointment to get treated for hepatitis C, saying her sores were not healing on their own anymore.
The report said the exchanges’ continuation depends on whether Indiana lawmakers extend the programs through legislation.