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Needle Exchange Programs

By Michael Blankenship

PROGRAMS THAT allow drug addicts to swap their dirty needles for sterile syringes are effective in reducing the transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. A 2008 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that an 80 percent reduction in the incidence of HIV in intravenous drug users over the past 20 years can be attributed in part to such programs funded by private organizations and localities. But Congress appears intent on gumming up the works. Read more.... Needle exchange programs work. There is no evidence that such programs encourage intravenous drug use. But they do slow down the rate of diseases spread by sharing dirty needles. They are also very cost effective. Compare the cost of syringes and administrative costs to a life-time of treatment for AIDS/HIV...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Justice Gambit on November 10, 2009 (boomark / email).