LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Save the Michaels of the World launched a syringe exchange program this week at its facility in Niagara County.

President Avi Israel said at least a dozen people have already come to ask about the initiative.

"The reason to exchange syringes is to make sure you don't get Hep C, HIV, you don't use the same [syringe], you reduce the chances for scarring, all that stuff," Israel said.

He said people with addiction who come to the center will have a conversation with a counselor about their path to eventually getting clean. 

"The idea is to keep you alive and to keep you healthy," Israel said.

The program is the first of its kind in Niagara County. Save the Michaels is working in partnership with Evergreen Health, which has been managing similar programs in Erie County for years.

The New York State Department of Health approved the program.

"[The] Department of Health provides all the syringes, all the other equipment, which is fantastic,” Israel said. “We have a grant that we will get with that to provide help with, obviously, employees and payroll and rent.” 

He said there is pushback though, as opponents believe the program can encourage continued drug use. State Sen. Pat Gallivan, R-Elma, for instance, said while he recognizes the intended purpose, he remains concerned about the impact on neighborhoods where they are located and he cannot reconcile the facilitation of illegal activity.

"We don't let you shoot in there," Israel said. "We encourage you not to do it alone. We don't intend on breaking the laws."

Israel, however, said the program could be the first step toward consideration of a supervised drug injection site, of which there are currently only two in New York City. He believes harm reduction strategies are underutilized in the state and if he had utilized some of those strategies when his son Michael, the namesake of the organization, was using, he might still be alive today.

Israel said he is looking to expand the program to other rural counties which he says do not get the same resources or funding from the state as metropolitan areas. He said he is also in negotiations to open a satellite office on the east side of Buffalo, where he also plans to have an exchange program.