An Important Statement from the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition regarding the Cedar Rapids Police Chief

Specifically, multiple legislators have reported that Chief Jerman claims IHRC distributes “crack pipes” and “tells community members not to call 911 in the event of an overdose.” As a result of these lies, legislators now say they are disinclined to support bills legalizing syringe service programs in Iowa, and that this withdrawal of support involves lawmakers who were previously very supportive of this evidence based legislation in particular, and of the work of IHRC in general.

This news is deeply troubling to our organization, as both claims are unequivocally false. IHRC neither distributes crack pipes nor do we encourage individuals not to call 911. These statements are slanderous and harmful. Moreover, we are shocked and disappointed that an official charged with the public trust would fabricate information in order to sway the opinion of elected officials away from support of legislation that would serve only to save lives and prevent the spread of devastating and costly infections. In his role as the Cedar Rapids Police Chief and the Legislative Chair and Liaison of the Iowa Police Chiefs Association, Chief Jerman has been a vocal opponent of these programs and their legalization, despite the robust success of syringe service programs in nearly 40 states across the country. A policy disagreement, however misinformed, is an expected part of legislative advocacy. Spreading lies in the hopes of gaining political advantage is not.

Addressing the particular claims: First, we do not distribute pipes. Period. Full stop. While harm reduction programs work to reduce the transmission of infectious disease, there is relatively little evidence to suggest that infectious disease transmission is facilitated through the sharing of pipes. There is no language in the current syringe service program bill that would legalize the distribution of pipes through public health programs. There is zero evidence to suggest that our programs distribute pipes and anyone with even a cursory familiarity with our work would understand how ridiculous this allegation is.

For those who are curious about what services we do provide, we welcome individuals to contact us at hello@iowaharmreductioncoalition.org to arrange a tour of our offices. You may also visit our website, where we keep a complete description of the services we do provide: https://www.iowaharmreductioncoalition.org/services/

Second, IHRC is an organization led, in part, by physicians and physicians in training. As such, we strongly believe in working with community members to ensure that they receive medical care when necessary and when their consent is given. We take the hippocratic oath (to do no harm) seriously and work to provide services that are deeply ethical and in line with our sworn oath. We have never instructed community members not to call 911 in the event of an overdose. On the contrary, we instruct our clients to seek medical care following an overdose and educate them on the importance of receiving follow-up care. These written instructions, included in every overdose reversal kit we distribute, are available on our website as well: https://www.iowaharmreductioncoalition.org/overdose-education-naloxone-distribution/

Our commitment to health care partnership and navigation can be demonstrated in many components of our programming. This includes robust programming to link people into both healthcare and addiction treatment. Through our programs, we bring hundreds of individuals annually into emergency departments and clinical appointments. Our staff accompanies clients to begin medication assisted treatment, receive care for skin and soft tissue infections, enter the hospital for suicidal ideation or severe mental illness, and initiate treatment for hepatitis C, HIV, and more.

“IHRC is very disappointed to hear that a campaign of misinformation is being led by someone who has sworn to protect and serve our community,” said Dr. Joshua Radke, IHRC Medical Director. “As an evidence driven organization, we take seriously promoting efforts which serve our mission – to promote the health, safety, and dignity of our participants. The claims that were made do not align with this mission, and are therefore not part of our work. As IHRC’s Medical Director and as an emergency department physician, I am especially appalled by any allegation that we do not promote emergency medical response. IHRC will continue to promote science-based programs and policy and will offer services that align with our organization’s core goals and values.”

These lies harm our community members and undermine the trust elected officials place in physicians, public health experts, and researchers. In order to ensure that elected officials receive the best available information regarding science, medicine, and public health, it is critical that law enforcement leadership refrain from making baseless allegations and stick to the facts. While we do not expect everyone to appreciate the legislation to authorize needle exchange programs in Iowa, we do expect that discussions about it will be professional, ethical, and mature, while maintaining a spirit of cooperation and collegiality. We also wish to stress that we enjoy positive working relationships with many law enforcement officers around the state and nation and are deeply grateful for the service these individuals perform in our community. This statement should not be taken as a criticism of this professional community, but of the single actions of one bad actor.

We remain committed to advancing this legislation as we believe that all Iowans deserve to live a life free of HIV, liver failure (the impact of hepatitis C), and devastating infections of the blood and heart, all of which are easily preventable through syringe service programs. When it comes to the human impacts of syringe exchange, there is no debate: these programs save lives. We trust that community members and elected officials will continue to recognize this indisputable fact and choose to ignore this ill-informed and weak anti-Iowan propaganda.