Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - Thursday, October 22, 1998
Libby Quaid, Associated Press Writer
Congress, as part of the $520 billion spending package signed into law Wednesday, banned use of local and federal funding for any needle-exchange program in the District of Columbia. That was on top of a ban on federal funding of needle exchanges anywhere in the country.
The Whitman-Walker Clinic, which gets $7 million a year in federal and local government dollars, has operated a clean-needle exchange for three years. It got $210,000 from the district this past year for the effort and raised $50,000 from private donors. Last month, its van distributed 17,000 needles.
The clinic, one of the nation's largest, has created a private, nonprofit group to run the program, transferring equipment, supplies and $50,000 in private funds to the new operation. The Washington-based Drug Policy Foundation gave the new group, Prevention Works Inc., an additional $25,000.
"Sounds like they've got some pretty sharp lawyers," Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., who sponsored the ban, said Thursday.
Prevention Works should have enough resources to keep the needle-exchange van running for four or five more months, said Jim Graham, Whitman-Walker's executive director, who is running for City Council.
"This law is intrusive," Graham said. "It not only tells D.C. how we can spend our own local tax dollars, but it tells charities like Whitman-Walker how we can spend private funds."
Needle exchanges programs are operating in about 100 U.S. cities. Supporters say such programs help prevent the spread of AIDS by allowing addicts to exchange contaminated needles for clean ones. Opponents contend the programs encourage drug abuse.
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