Points of Distribution

Description

Points of Distribution (PoD) emerged in 2001 out of the experiences of people active in the harm reduction community who noted that certain injection drug users, most notably severely homeless ones, were not accessing syringe exchange as often as necessary in order to use clean equipment every time they injected.

These activists observed that traditional, fixed site, exchanges are only accessible to those people who are able to come to the syringe exchange site. This often means that those people whose use is too chaotic or those who may be suffering from other disabilities, such as HIV, hepatitis C, or mental illness, do not access exchange. In response to this need nascent PoD volunteers determined that a delivery and outreach-based exchange program might be able to address these concerns.

POD is a volunteer-run collective based on the principals of harm reduction and radical democracy in action.