United Press International - Thursday, 17 May 2001
Mike Cooper, UPI Science Writer

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 19 million syringes were distributed through needle-exchange programs in 1998 -- more than twice the number of needles distributed by similar programs in 1994 and 1995. Figures for 1999 onwards are not yet available.

The total is based on a survey of 110 of the 131 programs known to exist around the country.

"There has been a steady increase in the number of syringe exchange programs in the United States. A lot of them have progressed into comprehensive health-care centers. They're not just providing syringes," said Mytri Pritam Singh of New York's Beth Israel Medical Center, which helped conduct the survey.

Almost all of the needle-exchange sites provided male condoms and provided referrals to substance abuse treatment, the CDC said. Almost two-thirds offered on-site counseling and HIV testing, the survey found.

Needle-exchange programs remain controversial even though health experts say there is "an impressive body of evidence" that they reduce the spread of HIV and other blood-borne infections through dirty needles. A panel of the National Institutes of Health said in 1997 that the programs can cut HIV infection rates among injecting drug users by 30 percent or more.

The opposition tide might be turning, however. The CDC said New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island lifted restrictions last year against possessing a syringe without a prescription, for example.

Officials in Allegheny County, Pa., where HIV rates among intravenous drug users have doubled during the past year, are holding public hearings this week on whether to allow a pilot needle-exchange program.

"Needle exchanges save lives, and dead addicts don't recover," Stuart Fisk, co-founder of Prevention Point Pittsburgh, told a hearing on Sunday.

Fisk's organization distributes clean needles to drug users, even though possession of a nonprescribed syringe is punishable by up to a year in prison under a rarely enforced Pennsylvania law.

Critics contend that needle-exchange programs attract crime and promote drug use. When Jacksonville, Fla., considered establishing one in 1999, James McDonough, director of Florida's Office of Drug Control, said it would "increase HIV and drug addiction and crime."

California's second-largest city blocked plans for a needle-exchange program last December. Despite an increase in hepatitis C and HIV infections, San Diego Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Horn said needle exchanges "are simply wrong because they send a mixed message to our youth about the dangers of drugs."

The North American Syringe Exchange Network says needle-exchange programs do not increase drug use or drug-related activity.
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