Thinking about Needle Exchange in DC

A recent article in the New York Times profiling DC's lone needle-exchange program has once again got the city talking about needle exchange. The article clearly states the problem in the first paragraph: "The nation’s capital is the only city in the country barred by federal law from using local tax money to finance needle exchange programs. It is also the city with the fastest-growing number of new AIDS cases."

This article was picked up by DCist.com. They write: "Daniels relies on $385,000 in private donations to deal with a huge and pressing health problem, reaching only one-third of the District's estimated 9,700 intravenous drug users."

A number of local organizations signed on to a letter on needle exchange that was sent to Congress last month. There efforts may be paying off. POZ Magazine reports "Representative Jose E. Serrano (D-NY) plans to push for the removal of legislation that prevents Washington D.C. from using local tax money to fund needle exchange programs."

The image used in this post is from a fashion show created by Oleksiy Zalevskiy to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Ukraine. To find out more click here

Labels: needle-exchange, Prevention Works