Get Syringes
Syringe access is healthcare
Syringe access programs (SAPs) are public health services that provide new, sterile syringes along with other safer injection supplies, risk reduction counseling, naloxone/Narcan and connection to community resources like treatment and housing. Many people come to SAPs for the syringes and stay for the unconditional support.
Get Syringes
In New Jersey, SAPs are called Harm Reduction Centers (HRCs) because they are hubs of support and community care for people who use drugs.
In addition to syringes and safer injection supplies, HRCs have nurses, harm reduction counselors, wound care, and connections to local resources like housing, treatment, and healthcare.
New Jersey has seven Harm Reduction Centers — find one near you.
Operated by: Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey — Prevention Resource Network
Location: 816 Sunset Avenue, Asbury Park, NJ 07712
Hours: Monday to Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Phone: 732-502-5100
Operated by: South Jersey AIDS Alliance
Location: 32 S. Tennessee Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Hours: Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Phone: 609-572-1929
Email: info@sjaids.org
Operated by: Camden Area Health Education Center (AHEC) (Mobile Site)
Location: 2600 Mt. Ephraim Avenue (by Produce Mkt.), Camden, NJ 08102
Hours: Monday from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM and Thursday from 8:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Phone: 856-963-2432 x221
Email: kiple_t@camden-ahec.or
Operated by: Hyacinth Foundation
Location: 48 Fairview Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07304
Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Phone: 201-432-1134
Email: info@hyacinth.org
Operated by: North Jersey Community Research Initiative (NJCRI)
Location: 393 Central Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM; Wednesday from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Phone: 973-558-5063
Email: r.rodney@njcri.org
Operated by: Hyacinth Foundation (Mobile Site)
Location: Straight St. and Montgomery St., Paterson, NJ 07505
Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Phone: 973-278-7636
Email: info@hyacinth.org
Operated by: Hyacinth Foundation, Trenton
Location: 849 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08618
Hours: Monday, Wednesday & Friday from 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Phone: 732-668-9753
Email: info@hyacinth.org
Frequently Asked Questions
New Jersey pharmacies are permitted by law to sell ten syringes to customers who can show, through a valid photo ID or other evidence accepted by the pharmacist, that they are over 18 years old.
Even though everyone who requests new syringes should be celebrated for taking a step to stay safer and healthier, some pharmacies do not sell syringes even when requested, and pharmacists are not obligated to. If you face any issues accessing syringes at a pharmacy, feel free to reach out to let us know what you experienced and discuss options.
You are protected from prosecution for syringe possession if you obtained your syringe from a Harm Reduction Center (HRC) or pharmacy purchase, even if the syringe contains residue of a criminalized substance. Keep your anonymous HRC enrollment card and/or pharmacy receipt on you.
We hope New Jersey will decriminalize syringes entirely, regardless of where they are from, like Maine did recently — after all, syringes are essential healthcare supplies.
Syringes services programs (SSPs) began as an urgent, life-or-death grassroots effort by people who inject drugs during the onset of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s. People who inject drugs demanded syringe access, and distributed these essential public health supplies within community networks.
New Jersey’s restrictive syringe access law means we have only seven programs serving a population of more than nine million people, which is not enough to ensure widespread syringe access.
If New Jersey had the same level of per-capita syringe access that Kentucky has, we would have over 150 syringe access programs—far more than the seven we currently have. Residents of 14 New Jersey counties are still without access to harm reduction services. We are actively trying to remove restrictive barriers to syringes in New Jersey!
Check out the national syringe finder operated by the North American Syringe Exchange Network
Learn More
- Our Issues: Syringe Access [NJHRC]
- More Syringe Access FAQs & Printable Materials [NJHRC]
- Syringe Access [NHRC]
- Safer Injection/Use [NEXT Distro]
- Harm Reduction Centers [NJDOH]
- Injection Safety Manual [NHRC]
- Wound & Abscess Care for People Who Use Drugs [NEXT Distro]
- Hormone Injection Practices [Fenway Health / NEXT Distro]
- Sterile Syringe Access Fact Sheet [Drug Policy Alliance]
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Harm reduction is essential. A harm reduction approach to drug use is the best strategy we have to end the overdose crisis, reduce risks associated with drug use, and affirm the dignity and bodily autonomy of every New Jerseyan.
