Skowhegan, ME Public Health Rules: Syringe Disposal (2026)

The ordinance opens with a purpose clause: the Town supports harm reduction through hypodermic syringe exchange, and it regulates exchange programs and disposal sites so that programs operate in conformity with state law, demonstrate a plan for injection drug users to seek treatment, and require the removal of syringe litter from public and private property.

Section 3 caps the Town at one registered Needle Exchange Program, which must operate at a single fixed location with a secured facility. Mobile exchanges, defined to include vans, cars, motorcycles, mopeds and backpacked pedestrians, are not authorized, and neither is any Safe or Supervised Injection Site. Section 4 covers disposal: Needle Disposal Containers must not be visible to the general public from any publicly owned space or right of way. Section 2 defines the container as any rigid puncture-resistant container used for the collection of discarded needles or other sharps.

Section 5 requires the single fixed location to be approved by the Chief of Police and the Board of Selectmen and bars any program within 750 feet of a church, school, park, playground, library or day care center. Distance is measured in a straight line, without regard to intervening structures or objects, from the nearest portion of the building used for the program to the nearest property line of a church, school, library or day care center, or to the nearest boundary of a park or playground.

Section 8 lists facility criteria, including a commercial property that is not residential, single use only, ADA accessibility, electricity and running water, a well-lighted primary entrance and emergency exit, and a barrier separating employees from consumers. Section 9 requires a valid Town permit, one-to-one exchange, and no syringes knowingly given to anyone under 18. Section 10 requires quarterly reports to the Chief of Police. Under Section 12 a permit is valid for one year and must be renewed. The Town's user fee schedule effective January 1, 2025 lists the Needle Exchange Permit at $50.00 new and renewal.