Inside STAT: Welcome to the Church of Safe Injection

JESSE HARVEY RUNS A HARM-REDUCTION SERVICE OUT OF THE TRUNK OF HIS CAR NEAR TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN LEWISTON, MAINE. (YOON S. BYUN FOR STAT)

Jesse Harvey, a 26-year-old recovery coach in Maine, is the founder of the Church of Safe Injection. The congregation gives a structure to a coalition of harm-reduction advocates who work to distribute thousands of syringes — possessing more than 10 is illegal in the state — and hundreds of doses of naloxone. Members of the “church” take that title seriously. Harvey’s decision to brand the organization as a church could also provide an element of legal protection. If he’s ever arrested for his work, he’ll argue that he was carrying out his own First Commandment: harm reduction. As overdose deaths soar and infectious diseases spread, he believes it’s more criminal to follow the state syringe law than disobey it. STAT’s Lev Facher has more here.