Congress moves to ban needle exchange funding

swmo

swmo

Bluelighter
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Mar 31, 2009
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MO (Misery)
Bad news: the House & Senate agreed to the omnibus conference report, and the federal funding ban on syringe exchange is in the final text: SEC. 523. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no funds appropriated in this Act shall be used to carry out any program of distributing sterile needles or syringes for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug. Congress is expected to pass this today, almost exactly two years after they first lifted the ban.
 
Fuck. I'm in the stl area and I depended on my Exchange so I don't have to shell out $$ for rigs. This fucking blows. Back to the aids/hep infested life I left when I found the exchange programs...
 
This does not mean that needle exchange programs will now become illegal. Rather, it means that the funding for these
programs will have to come from the state/county/municipality in which the exchange program is located. For most
needle exchange programs, federal funding was already so limited that they were already being supported at the state
or county level.
 
Clean Needles Saved My Life. Now Congress Wants to Ban Funding for Needle Exchange

Would you rather save lives and save money — or make a political point? Sadly, when the question involves the issue of clean needle programs, the choice to “send a message” always seems to win.

The provision of clean needles to drug addicts is one of the most effective known interventions in the entire field of public health. Nonetheless, the budget agreement reached this week in Congress reinstates a federal ban, which had been removed in 2009, on funding for such programs.

There’s still hope that the ban could be lifted at the last minute, but the fact that needle exchange, a cheap, effective lifesaver, still remains a political football is profoundly depressing to me. Not only do opponents of needle-exchange programs misunderstand the data on their effectiveness, but they also fail to understand the invaluable message of empowerment and hope that such programs actually send.

. . .

Despite the concerns of critics, no study has ever found that needle exchange increases drug use or that it prevents users from quitting. On the contrary, these programs encourage many addicted people, who were formerly isolated, to get help and recover.


Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/...an-funding-for-needle-exchange/#ixzz1giqJM08h
 
Missykins said:
This does not mean that needle exchange programs will now become illegal. Rather, it means that the funding for these
programs will have to come from the state/county/municipality in which the exchange program is located. For most
needle exchange programs, federal funding was already so limited that they were already being supported at the state
or county level.
Click to expand...

If that particular state allows it. Good luck train hopping.

Fuck, at least we can arrest people in any state.
 
Needle exchange programs save lives. An exchange program does not increase drug use. Many times, it will bring people to seek out treatment, because they will be around the possibility. This is just an exercise in futility but, I wish our ELECTED officials would actually do whats good for the people, instead of dick sizing about policy and working for big business. We need money out of politics, until that happens don't expect sanity.
 
I fully support the right of citizens to use drugs responsibly. However, I do not support any government subsidy of your recreational drug use. Government should not interfere with your drug taking. But it should not be expected to pay for it.
 
villian said:
All I want for Christmas is science based drug policy.
Click to expand...

All I want for Christmas is science based policy (for anything).

But then, given how much science is maligned in current American politics, I don't hold out much hope.
 
AfterGlow said:
I fully support the right of citizens to use drugs responsibly. However, I do not support any government subsidy of your recreational drug use. Government should not interfere with your drug taking. But it should not be expected to pay for it.
Click to expand...

I think it should, for addicts who can't afford it. You shouldn't force people to go through withdrawals or steal to be able to buy drugs. The most addictive drugs are dirt cheap to make anyway.

But then, I live in europe, where we can actually get free medical care.
 
I agree with AfterGlow.

In a truely free society, addicts would be able to afford needles anyways, and the ones that couldn't could always blame their own dumb selves. I'm not going to fork out more money to free loaders that intentionally share needles and don't give a fuck period.

-I'm for Universal Health care, but not for a dismantling of private enterprise and common sense good medicine.
The U.S. medical industry is fucked and will continue to be as long as bullshit like this happens.
 
When I lived in China, 20 years ago, there was a "problem" at Peking University - the most elite school in the country - because they kept finding used condoms around the benches by the lakes.
But the government knew just what to do - they removed the benches. :|

This reminds me very much of the situation with the gov. ending funding for needle exchange.


And I can't agree with Dextermeth or Afterglow here.
The larger society has to do things like fund needle exchange for their own interests.
It is far, far cheaper to fund needle exchange than to take care of people with HIV, hepatitis, etc.

And the government already subsidizes the wheat and hops used to make beer, and tobacco (I believe I am correct in all of these - if I am not, please inform). Why stop there?
 
AfterGlow said:
I fully support the right of citizens to use drugs responsibly. However, I do not support any government subsidy of your recreational drug use. Government should not interfere with your drug taking. But it should not be expected to pay for it.
Click to expand...

Thats a fair point but the reality is that the govement will just end up paying the medical bills from AIDS Hepc and other needle born illnesses. Prevention is almost always the cheaper solution
 
slimvictor said:
The larger society has to do things like fund needle exchange for their own interests.
It is far, far cheaper to fund needle exchange than to take care of people with HIV, hepatitis, etc.

And the government already subsidizes the wheat and hops used to make beer, and tobacco (I believe I am correct in all of these - if I am not, please inform). Why stop there?
Click to expand...

1. Re-legalize all drugs to reduce the inflation. Quality control would be dealt with by the free hand of the marketplace as well as the FDA (not the DEA).
2. Why do we subsidize wehat and hops (for beer), and tobacco? - I'm asking on this one.

I like getting my trash picked up every week, but I'm not going to pay other people to throw their shit away in my trash can.
 
^ I don't know why the gov subsidizes wheat and hops and tobacco. There are historical reasons, but I suspect that they boil down to protecting those with lots of money, or, possibly in the beginning, protecting small-time farmers.

As for your point (1), I agree wholeheartedly.
 
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