Iowa Mom, Kim McVicker: Legalize Needle Exchange For Heroin Addicted Daughter

Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition

· 56 mins ·

“I’m Kim McVicker and I’m here on behalf of my daughter Nicole. When Nicole was younger, she played soccer and was an avid dancer, spending multiple nights every week at dance classes. She loves her dogs, cats, painting and music. She doesn’t know a stranger, often complimenting someone’s hair, outfit or even an elderly woman’s colorfully painted cane in hopes of brightening their day. She believes in the importance of being kind. Nicole is also a heroin user, living with two strains of hepatitis C. She’s not here with us today because she’s incarcerated at the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women.

Nicole’s stepdad has type 1 diabetes – he uses syringes every day. At one point, he asked me if he should give Nicole clean syringes. Knowing by this time that she was using heroin, couldn’t we at least try and protect her as best we could? I was adamantly against this, fearing that doing so would enable, and possibly even encourage, her continued drug use. I was wrong.

So how did I get here, as part of this day of advocacy, supporting a legal path forward for a syringe exchange program? I was seeking something positive to share with Nicole. I used to try and scare her, thinking that if I recounted every overdose, every life lost, that would save her. One day she said, “I know why you tell me these things and it’s not doing what you want. It actually takes away my hope.” With the rawest and most desperate emotion I have ever heard from her, she said “It is SO hard, EVERY day, ALL day, to stay clean. And when you tell me these stories to scare me, it makes me feel, what’s the point? What is the point if in the end I will still lose, why fight through every single day, feeling miserable?” That is when I begin looking for stories of hope.

I saw a show on PBS about harm reduction efforts. Then I searched to see if such a thing existed here in Iowa, and I found IHRC. I told Nicole about IHRC’s efforts. I told her that they welcome and value the insights and input of current and former drug users. She was shocked, she couldn’t believe there was an organization that would not only not reject and stigmatize her but would welcome her”

That’s where the post ends. Meanwhile, here’s some interesting info: Marshalltown and Iowa City Chiefs of Police, as well as the President of the Iowa State Police Association, have apparently wrote letters in support to Iowa legislators.