Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Thurston County Syringe Services Program is on the move.
A five-year lease approved by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners will lead to the relocation of the program from its current site in downtown Olympia to Franklin Street. The board endorsed the lease at a meeting on Tuesday, July 29.
The move will give the program a larger base for harm reduction work and end reliance on extra storage, according to discussions during the board’s meeting.
According to Central Services Director Kim Burnett, the agreement with Puget Sound Community Services LLC sets the starting rent at $866.79 per month.
The program is managed by the Thurston County Public Health and Social Services Department and provides harm reduction services, such as syringe exchange, wound care supplies, hepatitis C and HIV testing, and other related services.
Burnett said the program has been housed in the downtown location since 2011, but has outgrown the space.
The Syringe Services Program runs solely on the financial support of Washington State Department of Health under its harm reduction mandates.
On projected savings, Burnett said the relocation is expected to save $36,759 annually.
“The program is funded by Washington State Department of Health, and with the reduction of this lease amount, the savings will provide funding for other areas of this program,” she said.
Assistant County Manager Joshua Cummings lauded the joint effort that brought the agreement forward.
“I wanted to appreciate the partnership between Public Health and Central Services and finding ways to increase services while cutting costs, so that collaboration between departments is super useful,” Cummings said.
County Manager Leonard Hernandez echoed those sentiments and reiterated the county’s commitment to safeguarding essential services.
“The team working together to figure out how to save dollars and working to support our Public Health and Social Services, because the service they deliver really affects folks that need the service the most in our county,” Hernandez said.
Although the agreement carried no objections, the consent agenda item faced opposition from one public commenter.
Jon Pettit said he did not support the syringe program and questioned its value.
“It’s kind of there is one particular item, of course, I don’t personally find to be maybe beneficial, because I don’t care for the program in general,” Pettit said.
He also expressed frustration about used needles being discarded in public areas, such as on streets and in trees, where they do not belong.
“I realize some people think a syringe program’s really important to hand out needles so people can take their drugs. And not all people have the same opinion, and I certainly don’t like it when I find them laying around the streets, poked in the trees and all types of places they aren’t supposed to be," he said.
The board unanimously approved the lease as proposed.
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36098501
Is this truly an "exchange" program as described? By the amount of used syringes I find downtown, and along the shoreline of Capital Lake and Budd Inlet, it seems like syringes might be handed out without any exchange required.
The needle program, meant to make life safer, can quietly reinforce the daily rhythm of addiction. The fact is, every fresh needle is a tiny contract: you’ll be back for more needles, not to stop, but to use—safely, yes, but still using.
Every drug habit needs a supplier. Clean needles don’t come with clean drugs; they come with a guarantee that the user stays tied to the same network of downtown dealers seemingly unconcerned with legal accountability or consequences.
The city’s safety net, in aiming to soften the fall, creates an environment where dependency is quietly sustained, and the dangerous relationship to local dealers is left unbroken. A very profitable relationship to the dealer that may create an even more unhealthy environment as crime and trafficking are often the means of payment.
As you hand out needles, you also, unintentionally, hand out opportunity—a guaranteed customer.
The very act of giving a lifeline extends the life of the problem. The program isn't just about preventing disease—it's about making peace with a reality where the user’s primary relationship is still with the person selling the next fix. Every needle dispensed is also a reminder of the dealer’s place in the ecosystem, thriving on repeated, safe, but steady transactions.
It is a fine line to walk, but this doesn't feel compassionate to me. Worse, it turns a personal drug problem into a larger public health hazard for everyone else.
Is it an "exchange" program? I need an article that helps explain how this helps the objective of breaking the cycle of addiction, puts drug dealers out of business and makes the public safer.
Thursday, July 31, 2025 Report this
bonaro
The State Dept of Health may be paying for the program but the County is paying the rent.
I do NOT approve of my rising property tax dollars being spend on this.
Thursday, July 31, 2025 Report this
LindaD
Be brave, JOLT! Let The Daily O be the chickens. Where is it downtown now and where on Franklin, NE or SE? If it's a good thing, then we want readers to know where to find the services. Both locations are further from the downtown problem. Do we think people will walk blocks to exchange for clean needles when they're disposing old needles downtown now? And is it an exchange, or simply a supply of clean needles? The article feels wussy.
Thursday, July 31, 2025 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Program such as the needle exchange should be stopped…completely. This is wasting our taxes to support drug addicts. I can no longer bring children to any of the public parks due to needles that can be found everywhere. The only programs I would support are those to get people off of the drugs.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
JW
"Harm Reduction" is code for "crime enablement"
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
JulesJames
Government handing out stuff to facilitate illegal drug usage isn't exactly the proper message to be broadcasting. Might as well be handing out tin snips for bike locks and hoodies for shoplifting. Time for change at the state legislative level, if this needle handout program is going to get gone.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
Mossbackman
The two political parties need each other for this whole thing to work efficiently, Republicans have good ideas but bad action, nothing gets done because conservatives are self reliant. And Democrats have bad ideas but good action, they can convince their base to do literally anything.
This is a case of having bad ideas and bad action, these exchange programs are helping prolong the lives of drug addicts who would normally die off from their stupid behavior, prolonging their need for more drugs, which means more violent crime.
The solution is to ban the use of drugs on public streets, and have the Democrats agree to this so their blue haired zombies can patrol the streets stopping addicts from using on the streets.
Turning the weak minded idiots into a force of good is something both sides need to do.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
Boatyarddog
Commenters want Drug use Back in the back allys, where they don't see them. They want their tax dollars to fix pot holes not addiction problems. They will not fund treatment centers, but would rather pay for Jailed Inmates as a form of "treatment" aka, punishment! Its just petty and Malinformed fools that F it up for most here that Care about health and Resourceful Innovation. While they Whine about City or County Leadership, Pitch In or Shut Up.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
ChuckCross
From the outside looking in, seems to me that the critical question of program success, is being missed by both those for and against this needle program. Accountability seems to be missing. Both sides raise good points, however both sides fail to ask for verification of whether or not the needle handout program produces the desired results.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
burkemeister
I am guessing that the argument for supplying clean needles to drug users is an act of compassion—an enlightened, evidence-based response to a tragic public health crisis. And on the surface, that claim makes sense. Reducing the spread of HIV and hepatitis C among intravenous drug users is undoubtedly important. But we need to ask a harder question: Are we truly helping people if we make it safer to stay addicted?
Needle exchange programs, often referred to as harm reduction, have become increasingly popular in progressive circles. Supporters point to lower infection rates, fewer emergency room visits, and some cost savings. But a deeper look at the data—and the lives behind it—paints a more troubling picture.
For one, while these programs may keep users alive longer, they rarely help them get well. A 2017 review by the CDC revealed that only a small fraction—often less than 20%—of participants in needle exchange programs are connected to drug treatment services. The vast majority continue to use. That is not a hopeful outcome. That is stagnation.
True compassion should aim higher than managed decay. It should aim for recovery.
Consider countries like Sweden, which have prioritized abstinence-based treatment combined with housing, job training, and counseling. There, addiction rates have declined over time—not because drug use was made safer, but because people were given a real path out. In contrast, in many U.S. cities where needle exchanges have flourished, drug deaths continue to rise. If harm reduction were a long-term solution, we’d see evidence by now.
Then there’s the harm to the broader community. In Seattle and San Francisco, where large-scale needle programs operate, discarded syringes now litter sidewalks, schoolyards, and parks. Children are being taught to step over what should never have been normalized in the first place. For all the good intentions behind these programs, we cannot ignore their external costs—borne not just by users, but by neighborhoods already strained by homelessness and crime.
And what message do we send to young people watching all this? That society will cushion the fall but not offer a hand to rise? That addiction is inevitable and must simply be managed?
We can do better.
Perhaps the response to addiction should be to treat it—not as a condition to be accommodated, but as a battle to be won. What we need is to invest more in detox programs, long-term rehabilitation centers, and aftercare services that address the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Let’s stop pretending that survival is the same as healing.
It is not unkind to expect more. In fact, it may be the most compassionate thing we can do.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
Gigi319
A syringe service program does provide new needles to prevent the spreading of diseases. It also has testing for hepatitis c and has direct line to treatment. It also opens up conversation to be had with community resources, treatment options, condoms, and people who aren't judgemental like many comments posted here. Because someone is not at a point of being able to be abstinent, they don't deserve respect? They dont deserve unused supplies? Many of these people have been so ostracized by this community that the exchange is the ONLY link of support, period. Also, the idea that anyone is making a profit from providing these services is an interesting one. People aren't going to stop using because a syringe exchange closes. Infact, crime would go up due to people turning to theft in order to get any kind of supplies. Resulting in more arrests and jail cycles. We can all acknowledge that the cost of one incarcerated person is substantially greater (around $6,000/month for that person) than this program.
Friday, August 1, 2025 Report this
DanielFarber
I appreciate burkemeister's eloquent and thoughtful comment. I wonder what the costs would be for a Swedish-style approach to this issue. They no doubt would be substantial, but if it were effective, I'd support it.
The enormous and complex challenge of this issue, and in general, the large number of people who are living at the margins of society, is that local government alone doesn't have the resources to provide that array of services. When local government does make substantial investments to help some of the folks - such as Olympia's efforts at housing and other support services - it can have the confounding effect of drawing in people from surrounding areas that are not provided with such services. True solutions need to include larger regional and national policies and investments.
The sources of the marginalization are multiple. A huge part of the cause for homelessness is of course housing costs. But also mental illness, drug addiction, family breakdown are all substantial contributors. We need to aim for wise compassion, which results in better outcomes for all of society. Untreated mental illness and drug addiction should not be criminalized, nor should it be an acceptable lifestyle, where people are permitted to die on the street beause we wish to honor their independent choices.
Saturday, August 2, 2025 Report this
PamelaJHanson
The BOCC and the DOH are hand-in-hand in handing out drug paraphernalia. Then, the drug dealers provide the drugs - and the drug may possibly a hot shot, an overdose dosage, etc. Do they hand out spoons or foil with the needles or are the spoons and pieces of foil still being stolen from within boxed foil at the dollar store? It is unbelievable that this is happening. Our government is subsidizing drug use and is obviously aiding and abeting the drug dealers. I hope ALL the needles are marked "Endorsed by and provided by the BOCC and the DOH to enable illegal drug use." so that families can sue both parties for wrongful deaths. Just my opinion. Thank you law enforcement, emergency personnel and the coroner's office for your strength to persevere through the storm.
Sunday, August 3, 2025 Report this