On a sunny afternoon the first week of March, in an alley behind the University District post office, volunteers for the People’s Harm Reduction Alliance needle exchange open the doors, set up their outreach table, and begin another afternoon’s work.
They greet and chat with clients while handing out clean syringes and other injection tools: little metal containers for cooking up a dose, tiny balls of cotton, strips of latex for tying off an arm or leg (as well as a non-latex option). They also offer kits of naloxone…

