Denver City Council’s decision to remove restrictions on syringe exchange programs, including a cap on the number of sites and distance limits from schools and daycare centers, could lead to an increase in these programs in 2025.

City Council voted 8 to 5 vote Monday night to update the existing city municipal code and remove the cap on the number of sites permitted and lift a distance barrier that prohibited their operation within 1,000 feet of schools and daycare centers.

Councilmembers Flor Alvidrez, Kevin Flynn, Amanda Sawyer, Diana Romero Campbell and Darrell Watson all cast “no” votes.

The bill now moves on to Mayor Mike Johnston’s office, where he has five days to approve or veto the measure.

Unlike supervised injection sites, needle exchange programs, or syringe access programs as they are sometimes called, do not permit the use of drugs on site, but provide users with a mechanism to dispose of used syringes, access sterile syringes properly, and are offered resources such as counseling.

While most could agree on the value of keeping needles off the street and preventing the spread of bloodborne infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, councilmembers struggled to find common ground when it came to the distancing requirement.

“We’re not talking about opening supervised injection sites or supervised use sites,” District 6 Councilmember Paul Kashmann said. “That discussion may come again at some point. This (bill) is about needle exchanges.”

Kashmann called distance requirements “a feel-good for some” but “ludicrous” because they did little to control addition.

“Our communities have been clear, at least the communities that I serve in District 9, that removing the distance restriction is something that they do not support,” District 9 Councilmember Watson said, “I cannot support this bill tonight without that (distance) restriction.”

Preliminary data from the city of Denver shows 597 people died in 2023 from a drug overdose, with nearly 400 of those deaths being from fentanyl.

For District 5 Councilmember Sawyer, her “no” vote was based on community feedback regarding one of the two fixed needle exchange sites located in her district.

While Sawyer was clear in her support of having a “supportive bridge” for clean and safe needle exchange, she said the experiences of some of her residents and businesses with the facility located in her district have not been positive.

Proponents say people who regularly use syringe access programs are more likely to seek treatment for substance abuse and reduce or stop injecting drugs.

Currently, three syringe exchanges operate in the city. They are subject to the rules and regulations of the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, and two have been operating since 2012.