The agency that distributed nearly half of all clean syringes provided to drug users in West Virginia last year will end its syringe service program next month, officials confirmed to West Virginia Watch on Wednesday.

The Cabell-Huntington Health Department will stop distributing syringes as a part of its harm reduction program on Dec. 16. The halt in services will be the latest in a years-long string of syringe program closures across West Virginia due to politics and policy changes.

Dr. Michael Kilkenny, health officer and chief executive officer of the health department, said the closure was due to “several forces,” most recently an executive order from the Trump administration and waning support of philanthropists.

The Cabell-Huntington Health Department started offering syringe

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