TAHLEQUAH, Okla. — There’s a new innovative program to address opioid addiction plaguing our state. It’s run by the Cherokee Nation, but open to anyone.
Cherokee Nation’s Harm Reduction Program opened in September 2022 with a goal of helping 75 people in the first year. The clinic surpassed that goal in less than four months.
“We continue to have people struggling with addiction with nowhere to go,” said Juli Skinner with the program. “This fills that gap and helps them begin their journey.”
It’s a judgment-free zone where addicts, not ready for treatment, can anonymously walk in and get sterile syringes and first aid kids. Education and peer support is available as well.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of hepatitis C in the nation. The hope is offering clean syringes will help prevent blood-borne infection, including HIV. Skinner says she has fielded concerns from residents who feel it could lead to more drug use.
“There is a lot of research in harm reduction programs and the benefit to the community,” she said. “[Participants] are more likely to seek services (treatment) with safe syringe programs than communities that don’t have one.”
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill in 2021 allowing harm reduction programs to open, but it’s a sunset law. It has an expiration date of June 2026. The Cherokee Nation’s program doesn’t fall under that law and officials are hoping their program is a role model for the rest of the state.
“I think there is a need at the state level to… look at how to extend [the sunset law],” said Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, Chuck Hoskin, Jr. “This is a struggle we all have—it doesn’t know demographic lines or political lines.”
Hoskin toured and studied similar programs in North Carolina and Washington. He says those areas have both seen overdose and hepatitis C rates lowered.
“When I saw it, it really opened my eyes to what was possible back home,” he said.
The Cherokee Nation is the first tribe to receive a federal grant to open a Harm Reduction Program. It is located at 214 N. Bliss Avenue. It’s open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Appointments are not required.
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