Full Article by Jarrett Lewis | WV Metro News
Charleston City Council has voted down a proposal from the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia to operate a syringe service program on the city’s West Side — a region many call the epicenter of a growing public health crisis.
The proposal failed by a 9–17 vote, despite some members pointing to alarming increases in Hepatitis C and the urgent need for harm reduction.
Council member Frank Annie, who supported the measure, warned: “We have a problem in Charleston with these diseases. Hepatitis C will bankrupt us.”
But opponents voiced concerns that such a program would attract more drug use and put stress on the surrounding neighborhood.
Council member Pat Jones voted against the proposal. He said needle exchange was something he warned the mayor about years prior, claiming the city would try and bring it back and drug users “couldn’t wait.”
Council member Larry Moore, who represents the West Side, said: “People that I’ve talked to are not against it, but… the repercussions fall back on us.”
Mayor Amy Goodwin opposed the effort, citing strong feedback from West Side residents and concerns about the clinic’s location: “Council members from wards one through six, which are all on the West Side, tell me to not do this.”
