WHITE HOUSE MOVES TO FUND NEEDLE EXCHANGES AS DRUG TREATMENT

The Obama administration has designated intravenous needle exchanges
as a drug treatment program, allowing federal money set aside to
treat addictions to be used to distribute syringes to narcotics users.

The change marks a dramatic shift in the argument over needle
exchange programs. Two years ago President Obama lifted the 21-year
ban on federally funded needle exchange programs as a necessary evil
to reduce the spread of HIV among illicit drug users. The new
position, determined by the surgeon general, is that the states can
receive federal funding for programs that hand out the syringes as a treatment.

"It doesn't pass any serious test of rationality," said John P.
Walters, the former drug czar under President George W. Bush. "It's
like the surgeon general deciding that handing out lighters is a good
way to help people to stop smoking. It's at least that absurd, and
the consequences are even greater given the risks involved in IV drug use."

The notice was posted late Friday before the three-day Presidents Day weekend.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin told The Washington
Examiner that needle exchange programs can serve as a gateway to
treatment for drug addiction, HIV and other diseases.

"This determination, based on years of scientific research, will
permit states and territories to use Substance Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Block Grant funds for what had formerly been termed 'needle
exchange,' " Benjamin said.

The notice cited a 11-year-old study in the Journal of Substance
Abuse Treatment that found that addicts who participated in needle
exchanges were five times more likely to enter drug treatment.

Dr. Lisa Merlo, an University of Florida assistant professor of
psychiatry and director of the Addiction Medicine Public Health
Research Group, said individuals who attend needle exchange programs
have significantly higher rates of participation in drug abuse
treatment programs. Needle exchange programs refer many individuals
to drug treatment programs who otherwise might not access those
services, she said.

But Dr. Scott Teitelbaum, director of the University of Florida-run
Florida Recovery Center, said, "Putting a needle in your arm is not
recovery." Teitelbaum said he opposed taking money from legitimate
treatment programs to pay for needle exchange.

Dr. Robert L. DuPont, president of the Institute for Behavior and
Health in Rockville, said it's possible that addicts will seek
treatment after getting clean syringes, but there are more
cost-effective ways of getting drug users to seek treatment.

"If someone proposed giving free drinks to treat alcoholism, they'd
be laughed out of the building," DuPont said. "But in the drug world,
that's considered good science."

A more effective way is to spend the money to go into the shelters
and communities hit hard by addictions and bring the addicts into
treatment, said DuPont and other drug treatment experts.

Critics say the new policy is a step toward European-style treatment
where the government provides the drugs and a clean room to inject them.