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CLEAN NEEDLES BENEFIT SOCIETY
USA Today
Our view: Needle exchanges prove effective as AIDS counterattack.
They warrant wider use and federal backing.
Nothing gets knees jerking and fingers wagging like free needle-exchange
programs. But strong evidence is emerging that they’re working.
The 37 cities trying needle exchanges are accumulating impressive
data that they are an effective tool against spread of an epidemic now in its
13th year.
• In Hartford, Conn., demand for needles has quadrupled expectations—
32,000 in nine months. And free needles hit a targeted
population: 55% of used needles show traces of AIDS virus.
• In San Francisco, almost half the addicts opt for clean needles.
• In New Haven, new HIV infections are down 33% for addicts in
exchanges.
Promising evidence. And what of fears that needle exchanges increase
addiction? The National Commission on AIDS found no evidence. Neither
do new studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
2006-07-26
08:00:55
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