Live Online Policy Forum 

# How Drug Paraphernalia Laws Undermine Harm Reduction 

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Date and Time 

June 17, 2022 12 - 1 PM EDT 

Location 

Live Online 

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##### Featuring 

![Corey S. Davis headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-06/corey-s-davis.jpeg?itok=MKnsI-X1) 

Corey S. Davis 

Director of Harm Reduction Legal Project, Network for Public Health Law

[ 

](https://twitter.com/coreysdavis) 

![Robin Lutz cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-06/robin-lutz-cropped.jpg?itok=-mTxpipr) 

Robin Lutz 

Executive Director, Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association

![Haley B. Coles cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-06/haley-b-coles-cropped.png?itok=IyHkg4et) 

Haley B. Coles 

Executive Director, Sonoran Prevention Works, Phoenix

[ 

](https://twitter.com/haleybcoles) 

[![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) 

[Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

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](https://x.com/dr4liberty) [ 

](mailto:jsinger@cato.org) 

State-level drug paraphernalia laws increase the risk of infection or overdose for drug users by preventing legal access to clean needles, syringes, and products to test drugs for deadly contaminants. Every state except Alaska criminalizes the possession and/​or sale of illicit drug paraphernalia. Thus, Alaskans can legally operate needle exchange programs and other harm-reduction measures. Recognizing that harm-reduction strategies reduce overdoses and disease, many states are considering reforms to their drug paraphernalia laws. To discuss the impact of drug paraphernalia laws on health and how states can implement better rules, we are pleased to have Corey S. Davis, the director of the Harm Reduction Legal Project of the Network for Public Health Law and adjunct faculty at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University; Robin Lutz, executive director of the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association, which has provided harm-reduction services in Alaska since 1985; and Haley B. Coles, executive director of Sonoran Prevention Works, which has been engaged in harm-reduction and syringe services in Arizona since 2010. The discussion will be moderated by Cato Institute senior fellow Jeffrey A. Singer.

### Additional Resources

- “[Drug Paraphernalia Laws Undermine Harm Reduction](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/drug-paraphernalia-laws-undermine-harm-reduction-reduce-overdoses-disease-states),” by Jeffrey A. Singer and Sophia Heimowitz
- “[Harm Reduction: Shifting from a War on Drugs to a War on Drug-Related Deaths](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/harm-reduction-shifting-war-drugs-war-drug-related-deaths),” by Jeffrey A. Singer
- “[Paraphernalia Laws, Criminalizing Possession and Distribution of Items Used to Consume Illicit Drugs, and Injection-Related Harm](https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305268?journalCode=ajph),” by Corey S. Davis, Derek H. Carr, and Elizabeth A. Samuels
- “[Legality of drug checking equipment in the United States: A systematic legal analysis](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376871622001624?dgcid=author),” by Corey S. David, Amy Judd Lieberman, and Madelyn O’Kelley-Bangsberg

![Syringe pattern on blue background with copy space.](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2022-05/Syringe.jpg?itok=j7MMpuZW) 

##### Related Study 

### [Drug Paraphernalia Laws Undermine Harm Reduction](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/drug-paraphernalia-laws-undermine-harm-reduction-reduce-overdoses-disease-states)

Every state except Alaska has laws that criminalize the possession and/​or sale of paraphernalia for the consumption of illicit drugs. State‐​level drug paraphernalia laws prevent people who use those drugs from accessing the means to reduce the risk of infection or overdose. This makes nonmedical drug use even more dangerous because the laws often prevent access to clean needles and syringes along with products to test drugs for deadly contaminants.

[Read the Study](https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/drug-paraphernalia-laws-undermine-harm-reduction-reduce-overdoses-disease-states) 

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