BLUNTED NEEDLES

Congress Is Set to Stick It to Clean-Syringe Programs

PROGRAMS THAT allow drug addicts to swap their dirty needles for
sterile syringes are effective in reducing the transmission of HIV,
the virus that causes AIDS. A 2008 report from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention notes that an 80 percent reduction in
the incidence of HIV in intravenous drug users over the past 20 years
can be attributed in part to such programs funded by private
organizations and localities. But Congress appears intent on gumming
up the works.

At first glance, the congressional goings-on seem promising: The
promise is to lift a 21-year-old ban on federal funding of
needle-exchange programs. But the small print makes this promise all
but worthless, because Congress would prohibit those programs from
operating within 1,000 feet of a school, library, park, college,
video arcade or any place where children might be present. In other
words, just about anywhere.

Pending legislation is particularly punitive to the District. Just
last year, Congress finally allowed the District the spend its own
money on clean-needle programs. Now a bill would apply the same
1,000-foot restrictions to District programs both with federal money
and with its own. This would effectively shut down the District's
four needle-exchange programs.

Thank Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) for hobbling this city's efforts.
He's "concerned for the safety of schoolchildren and the negative
impact of sending them mixed messages when it comes to drug
prevention," his spokesman told us. Mr. Kingston's concern doesn't
jibe with the facts. The CDC, the American Medical Association, the
National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization
concur that needle-exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV without
increasing drug use.

The bills have already passed the House. It's now up to the Senate to
strip the restrictions from the legislation. We urge it to do so.
Cities need every resource at their disposal to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic.