Pot times
Clean Needles
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1107/a06.htmlNewshawk: http://www.drugwarfacts.org
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 CLEAN NEEDLES
Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Copyright: 2005 Courier-Post
Contact:
cpedit@courierpostonline.com
Website: http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137
(Needle Exchange)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm
(Harm Reduction)
Needle exchanges have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without
increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for
an especially hard-to-reach population. Drug users are not the only
beneficiaries. Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent
overall in the nation are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners
who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a
direct result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes.
In the interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope New Jersey's
tough-on-drugs politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous collateral
damage sooner rather than later.
ROBERT SHARPE,
Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.
