Needle Exchange Programs Is a Helpful Project

Needle Exchange Programs is a Helpful Project  

Chaviya Udomvaranon

00574612

Professor William Crossman

ENGL201/Spring 2014

Needle exchange programs provide clean needles in exchange for used needles. The target group of the programs is an injection drug addict. The majority of research have shown that needle exchange programs have significantly decreased the number of dirty needles on the streets and have dramatically reduced a HIV and hepatitis C rate in the U.S. However, many opponents believe that injection drug users are criminals not patients, so the government should not spend any funds to help the criminals. In my opinion, I agree with the advocates of needle exchange programs which is a significant strategy in order to prevent HIV transmission.

There are several articles that pointed out benefits of needle exchange programs that cities will gain. According to “Used needles on the sidewalks: Why we need needle exchange programs” (Marcus, 2012), the author compared a number of used needles on sidewalks between downtown Miami and San Francisco. The author and the group of researchers walked on the both cities and counted the number of needles that they found. Almost 330 used syringes were found in parks, parking garages and along sidewalks in downtown Miami. Meanwhile, the researchers found only 44 used syringes in San Francisco. Interestingly, Miami has around 10,500 injection drug users which is less than twice as many users than San Francisco, but one in five injection drug users in Miami are infected with HIV which is a higher rate than San Francisco.

The main reason why the team of researchers found a high number of used needles in downtown Miami is that Florida has drug paraphernalia laws, but San Francisco does not. Florida’s drug paraphernalia laws have made it illegal to give or exchange needles with someone who is likely to use the needles to inject illegal drugs such as heroin or cocaine. Also, the laws ban carrying needles for the purpose of illegal drug use, and police officers have the right to arrest anyone who carries needles. It is very likely that drug users will throw used needles anywhere that is convenient and wherever they can without regard for who might come across it. San Francisco is a city that runs needle exchange programs, and pharmacies can sell clean needles and syringes without prescription. This is a strong evidence to show that needle exchange programs can decrease the number of used needles on the street, minimize HIV transmission and prevent accidental needle sticks.  

However, some of the offenders believe that governments should punish drug users instead of helping them and supporting them, and should discourage them from using drugs and provide treatment for quitting. The offenders of needle exchange programs also pointed out evidence to show that the programs are ineffective, and government organizations should refuse to spend the money on these programs. The offenders mentioned the result of the research based off of a study done in Vancouver, Canada. The study concludes that the needle exchange programs in Vancouver are ineffective and are not able to reduce a number of HIV outbreaks in the area. They took this study and used its negative results as the reason for their decision to not fund these programs here in the U.S. (Kaplan, 1992)