In Pennsylvania, she wants to hand out new syringes to save lives. But is it legal?

Kim Botteicher hardly thinks of herself as a criminal.

On the main floor of a former Catholic church in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Botteicher runs a flower shop and cafe.

In the church's basement, she also operates a nonprofit focused on helping people caught up in the ongoing drug epidemic get back on their feet.

Botteicher founded the nonprofit, FAVOR ~ Western PA, in this rural pocket of the Allegheny Mountains, east of Pittsburgh.

For each of the past several years, the nonprofit's home county of Westmoreland has seen more than 100 drug overdose deaths, the majority involving fentanyl.

Thousands more in the region have been touched by the scourge of addiction, which is where Botteicher comes in.

She helps people find housing, jobs, and health care, and works with families by running support groups and explaining that substance use disorder is a disease, not a moral failing.

But she has also talked publicly about how she has made sterile syringes available to people who use drugs.

"When that person comes in the door," she said, "if they are covered with abscesses because they have been using needles that are dirty, or they've been sharing needles, maybe they've got Hep C, we see that as, 'Okay, this is our first step.'"

The proven health benefits of syringe exchanges

Many studies have identified public health benefits associated with syringe-exchange services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says these programs reduce HIV and hepatitis C infections, and that new users of the programs are more likely to enter drug treatment and more likely to stop using drugs.

This harm-reduction strategy is supported by leading health groups, such as the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization, and