FREE NEEDLE EXCHANGE USEAGE SOARS

PORT TOWNSEND - Jefferson County Public Health is making an effort to
keep recreational needle users safe by supplying them clean syringes
for free.

To get clean syringes, the only thing required is old syringes.

When exchanging the needles, public health officials make sure they
also offer information on drug rehabilitation, risk reduction
education, HIV and hepatitis testing, counseling and referrals for
treatment programs.

The program isn't new, it's just increasing in visibility.

In 2000 the program exchanged 506 syringes. In 2007, it exchanged
24,585 from 65 clinics in the county.

Representatives at the department said that the increase in exchanges
has come in part from people simply becoming aware of the availability
and choosing to make better decisions.

"We are seeing people coming in and doing second-hand exchanges for
others as well," said Denis Langlois, a nurse practitioner involved in
the program.

"This is a very good program because it is very effective for helping
with HIV prevention."

Langlois said that the program not only helps prevent the spread of
disease but also facilitates screening people for HIV and other
sexually transmitted diseases.

"We can give them information on safe practices and avoiding
blood-to-blood contact, as well as offer tests and vaccines," Langlois
said.

The clinic also offers other products for individuals involved in the
program.

Prevention kits include tourniquets, cookers, cottons, fresh water,
containers for needles, alcohol preps, antibiotic cream and Band-Aids.

Also available are condoms and literature on preventing the spread of
disease.

It is estimated that nationally, more than 50 percent of new HIV
infections are among injection drug users, and most of that number
results from sharing needles.

Langlois said that providing clean needles, and making people aware of
the dangers, will help limit the spread of HIV in the needle-using
population.

The common argument is that offering these services encourages drug
use, he noted.

National studies have shown that needle exchanges do not increase
their use, and does not encourage people to begin using injectable
drugs, he said.

"There are several factors that make someone use drugs," Langlois
said.

"In the studies I have seen, availability is not one of them."