CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Delegate Geno Chiarelli, R, Monongalia, 77, is one of several sponsors of legislation that would add more oversight to harm reduction programs across the state. House Bill 2378 in its current form would require harm reduction programs to have some form of regular local oversight.
Chiarelli was also a sponsor of a bill removing smoking equipment from harm reduction programs statewide—House Bill 4667 that passed in the 2024 legislative session, the latest move to tweak the program.
“The committee substitute as presented would require all needle exchanges across the state to work in tandem or partnership with a public health department as another level of regulation to the services they provide,” Chiarelli said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.”
An experience at a Morgantown harm reduction clinic led Chiarelli to pursue HB 4667, and continued concerns are the motivation for HB 2378.
According to Chiarelli, during his 15-minute visit, he was given a bag of paraphernalia, including smoking devices, with no referral, treatment, or counseling.
“When it came down to it, my number one concern is making sure that if these needle exchanges are going to operate, they have to follow the regulations laid out in code,” Chiarelli said.
This piece of legislation started as a prohibition on syringe service programs but was amended during a meeting of the House Public Health Subcommittee.
“It’s either all of them are going to operate the way they’re supposed to or none of them are going to operate,” Chiarelli said.
The bill is moving to the markup and discussion phase and could be put on the agenda for next week pending input from the rest of the committee.
“We have a meeting tomorrow, I believe, to set our agenda for the following week, and I will speak to him as well as the rest of the Health Committee leadership to see if this is something we’re going to move forward.”