Some have said to feel as if the “Clean Needle Exchange Program” is contributing to the usage of drugs and deaths.

Some have said to feel as if the “Clean Needle Exchange Program” is contributing to the usage of drugs and deaths. If a needle cannot be found or is dirty it is less likely to be used to get an individual high, this has been one of the biggest arguments that I have heard about this program ( I feel it helps to save people).  When it comes to needle usage, what measures should be taken other then providing this program, handing in needles that are used and getting fresh ones to shoot up with? Do you feel that this program contributes to drug use and overdosing or helps to prevent and end it?

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Introduction

A needle and syringe programme (NSP), syringe-exchange programme (SEP), or needle exchange program (NEP) is a social service that allows injecting drug users (IDUs) to obtain hypodermic needles and associated paraphernalia at little or no cost. It is based on the philosophy of harm reduction that attempts to reduce the risk factors for diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. While NSPs provide most or all equipment free of charge, exchange programmes require service users to return used syringes to receive an equal number of new syringes. A comprehensive 2004 study by the World Health Organization (WHO) found a “compelling case that NSPs substantially and cost effectively reduce the spread of HIV among IDUs and do so without evidence of exacerbating injecting drug use at either the individual or societal level.”^[2] WHO’s findings have also been supported by the American Medical Association (AMA), which in 2000 adopted a position strongly supporting NSPs when combined with addiction counselingNeedle-exchange programmes can be traced back to informal activities undertaken during the 1970s. The idea is likely to have been rediscovered in multiple locations. The first government-approved initiative (Netherlands) was undertaken in the early to mid-1980s,…..

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