Governor Meyer Issues an Executive Order to Implement the Law, Addressing Earlier Concerns Raised by House Republicans
Gov. Matt Meyer signed into law this week legislation to provide free supplies to facilitate the use of illicit drugs by people suffering from substance addiction.
Senate Bill 249 (as amended) requires the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to license public programs for distributing items used for “injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing substances into the human body.” These supplies include “needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, tourniquets, clean water, mouthpieces, filters, and straws.”
These programs would be designed to encourage “peer-to-peer distribution” of state-supplied sterile drug paraphernalia. Participants would be granted anonymity, but would receive referrals for primary and behavioral healthcare and vaccinations, assistance with transportation and housing needs, and enrollment in public benefits programs.
The legislation also decriminalizes the possession of drug paraphernalia, but maintains felony violations for selling, delivering, or manufacturing the same items.
When the measure was debated in the House three months ago, State Rep. Nnamdi Chukwuocha (D-Wilmington), a prime sponsor of the bill, characterized the legislation as an extension of the needle exchange program, which Delaware authorized 20 years ago. The program was updated in 2023, dropping the requirement for a one-for-one needle exchange in favor of a needs-based approach, which the new law mimics.
During the House debate in June, State Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown), a nurse and a member of the House Health & Human Development Committee, said that while the needle exchange program has been successful in its goals of reducing the spread of infections, she questioned the wisdom of expanding the drug paraphernalia distributed by the state.
“We are basically engaging in malpractice,” she said. “We are taking the research from a needle exchange program and translating it to mean that by giving them a cooker, cotton, and tourniquets, we’re going to reduce overdoses.”
Rep. Jones Giltner said the bill should be restructured to focus on what studies have verified as effective in reducing overdose deaths. “Let’s stick with the science,” she urged her colleagues.
State Rep. Mike Smith (R-Pike Creek Valley) also weighed in during the floor debate, echoing Rep. Jones Giltner’s perspective. “My mother and my uncle both died of an overdose, he said. “I found both of them…I can understand the emotion behind wanting to support (this bill).”
Rep. Smith said the bill’s proposals should first be piloted and evaluated before full statewide implementation. “This is the type of thing you want to be science-based,” he told the chamber. “You want it to be data-driven before we make the decision, because we want that statistic to continue to go down.”
Ultimately, House and Senate Democrats passed the bill without any amendments addressing the Republican suggestions.
However, Governor Matt Meyer apparently agreed with the points made by Reps. Jones Giltner and Smith. In signing the bill on Wednesday, he also issued Executive Order 28, establishing protocols for implementing the new law. The order requires medically informed regulations, measurable outcomes, phased implementation, and ongoing consultation with public health and public safety officials.
Under the order, the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) will prioritize existing syringe services and other interventions with an established evidence base, including naloxone distribution, infectious disease screening, drug-checking supplies, wound care, overdose education, safe disposal, and connections to treatment, housing, and other services.
For components of the law where the evidence is still emerging, the executive order establishes additional safeguards. Any subsequent expansion of state funding for drug supplies will require a written determination from the DHSS Secretary that the preceding phase of the initiative produced positive public health results without significant unintended harm.
The order also requires DHSS to establish clear baseline measurements and track performance outcomes, report its findings to the governor, and share them with the public.
