ISLAND COUNTY: ‘Safer smoking kits’ program draws criticism, questions

Jessie Stensland reports from the Island County Commissioners’ work session of Wed., Mar. 5, 2025 for the Whidbey News-Times. Read the whole story.

A couple of Whidbey leaders are criticizing an Island County program that provides “safer smoking kits” to drug users, though the future of the grant-funded practice remains undecided.

Oak Harbor Police Chief Tony Slowik and Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson both expressed their opposition to the practice to the county Human Services Department. The board of commissioners discussed the issue with staff at a work session meeting Wednesday.

Last year, Human Services expanded the harm reduction program to include the distribution of kits that include glass pipes and tin foil that can be used to smoke opioids, methamphetamine or other drugs. The hypodermic needle exchange program has been successful for years, while the glass pipe distribution started about eight months ago. Both are grant funded.

They Said It

Slowik and Johnson said they support the needle exchange program because they feel it has tangible advantages — including limiting the spread of disease and the number of needles left in public places — but they feel differently about the safe smoking program.

“I don’t see how it benefits the community,” the police chief said in an interview, adding that he doesn’t like that the kits are distributed at a facility that’s close by the Navy child care center and Olympic View Elementary School. Island County Family Resource is located on Northeast First Avenue.

Slowik said he learned about the smoking kit program from a defense attorney who pointed out the irony of being arrested for using a pipe supplied by the county.

Johnson, who represents the greater Oak Harbor area, said she does not want to see the safe smoking program continue in Oak Harbor.

“We don’t need this. It’s one program too far for that community,” she said. “It just is. And it’s one program too far for me.”

She warned that she would fill the commissioners’ hearing room with people against the program if it continued.

At the meeting, Bill Larsen, deputy director of Human Services, explained to commissioners that the benefits of harm reduction programs, including the distribution of safer smoking supplies, have been studied and quantified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the CDC, the National Association of City and County Health Officials and the University of Washington, to name a few agencies.

“A central tenet of all harm reduction is meeting program participants where they are in order to provide compassion, care and support aimed at empowering them to make positive change,” he said.

Larsen said participants are provided with an array of resources beyond clean paraphernalia, including referrals to drug treatment, personal education materials and information about preventing overdoses. The program also gives officials a chance to keep track of trends.

Larsen said evidence clearly shows that providing users with safe smoking supplies reduces the number of people who inject drugs. People who smoke narcotics overdose at a rate that’s 40% lower than those who inject.

In addition, he said providing people with smoking pipes lessens the spread of infections and the use of makeshift pipes that can cause injury.

Importantly, the smoking kit program gives staff an opportunity to engage with users they might not otherwise see. Larsen said the needle exchange program has seen a decrease in exchanges over the last two years of about 15,000 fewer needles a year.

“It was reported to us that a lot of people had shifted to smoking,” he said.

Participation in the safe smoking program rapidly increased over the months.

Nevertheless, Johnson railed against the distribution of smoking kits.

“We are government handing out contraband. Here’s how you smoke, here’s your kit on how to smoke,” Johnson said. “It’s too enabling for me. It should be hard to get your supplies.”

Johnson said few other counties have the same program.

Commissioner Janet St. Clair said she strongly supports harm reduction programs because they save lives and save costs in other systems of care.

Nevertheless, she had questions about the smoking kit program specifically. She asked what the nexus between public health and the program is, how stable the funding source is and what stakeholders — such as police and fire departments — think about the program.

She suggested that the distribution of smoking kits could be limited to unincorporated areas of the county.

Commissioner Melanie Bacon said she tends to support fellow commissioners on what they want for their districts. Yet she was concerned about whether stopping the program would push some people to shoot up instead.

In response, Johnson suggested stopping the distribution of smoking kits in Oak Harbor and tracking whether needle use increased.

Bacon suggested that Larsen return with a possible exit strategy for the program in the city and answers to the questions.

Ed. Note: Bill Larsen also serves as a commissioner for the North Whidbey Pool, Park, and Recreation District.