Hardware

Harm reduction machine raises concerns in Queens

Image: Adobe Stock.

June 20, 2023

Members of a public board that oversees activities in Queens, New York expressed concern about a vending machine the city plans to install that will offer harm reduction supplies such as fentanyl testing strips, safe sex kits, sterile syringes, naloxone nasal spray and wound care, according to a qsn.com report.

One member of the Community Board 14 said the machine would be close to a high school and be accessible to teenagers.

Another member said kids may empty the machine and sell the products on the black market.

The meeting was hosted by the AIDS Center of Queens County in Far Rockaway.

Chloe Forsell, prevention supervisor for the organization, said the city will monitor the pilot program's performance.

New York City health services installed the first such machine in Brooklyn earlier this month.