"Needle exchange director arrested for having needles"

The story reads like a series of unfortunate events...

Cincinnati.com:  Norwood police Chief William Kramer said officers found Harrison "passed out in the driver's seat with her car still in drive."

A search of Harrison's vehicle also revealed a bottle cap and a piece of burnt cotton, and both a capped and an uncapped syringe, police stated in their report.

The white powder residue, which Harrison dropped to the ground after emerging from her vehicle, will be tested, Kramer said. Drug possession charges are possible pending the outcome of those tests, Kramer said.

"There was no bag with white powder in it," Harrison told The Enquirer. "If they tested anything in the car, it’s going to have heroin in it because of (my) work."

Harrison's car was filled with thousands of syringes in plastic bio-hazard bins, but no actual drugs, she said. Harrison also said she conversed politely with police, offered to show them her official identification cards, but ultimately was arrested and jailed.

"I have hypoglycemia so I get lightheaded. I pulled over to the side of the road," ate a peanut butter-honey bar and waited for it to take effect, Harrison told The Enquirer after her hearing. "The next thing I know there's cops everywhere."

CEP, as it's called, is a mobile exchange site that generally operates from a van that clearly identifies its purpose. But the van occasionally has mechanical problems, so staff work from their own vehicles so as not to interrupt services.

That's why, according to Harrison, there were needles and other supplies in her vehicle.

"If I'm carrying 1,500 needles and giant sharp (needle) containers, I'm obviously running a program," Harrison said. "There was no reason for them to take me to jail... For them, maybe it was a better-safe-than-sorry situation, but I think they should have thought about it a little longer."