In Lewiston, the building that houses the syringe exchange program known as the Church of Safe Injection has been condemned. City officials say an inspection at 195 Main Street Wednesday revealed severe safety hazards.
Code enforcement officers and police say they inspected the building after getting a call that a door was open. They say they found thousands of used needles scattered throughout the property, unsecured sharps containers and evidence of unauthorized people sleeping in the basement.
The city says it has notified the Maine CDC, which licenses syringe service programs.
The executive director for the Church of Safe Injection, Zoe Brokos, says they had a recent break in and staff are working to clean up the space.
"An unfortunate but common act of breaking and entering, vandalism and improperly discarded syringes has been exaggerated and sensationalized to portray it as a failure of CoSI’s operations," she says.
Brokos says the program is being targeted as the city council considers an ordinance that would restrict syringe exchange programs.
