Bush Signs Spending Bill: Lifts DC Needle Exchange Ban

From Kaiser Daily: President Bush last week signed a $555 billion fiscal year 2008 omnibus spending bill (HR 2764) that effectively lifts a ban on city funding for needle-exchange programs in Washington, D.C., the New York Times reports. Since 1999, the district has been the only U.S. city barred by federal law from using local funds for needle-exchange programs. A report released last month by district health officials found that injection drug use was the second most common cause of HIV transmission in the city (Urbina, New York Times, 12/27/07).

Mayor Adrian Fenty in a recent statement said the city plans to include needle exchanges in a larger program to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. About $1 million in city funds will be allocated for needle-exchange programs in 2008. District City Council member Jim Graham said a city-funded needle-exchange program will have a significant impact on the city's high rate of HIV/AIDS. He added, "This program will save lives" (Manning, AP/Google.com, 12/27/07).

Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), chair of the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, said, "For too long, Congress has unfairly imposed on the citizens of D.C. by trying out their social experiments there." He added, "The ban on needle exchanges was one of the most egregious of these impositions, especially because the consensus is clear that these programs save lives" (New York Times, 12/27/07).