Needle Exchange: The First Year
Show 1414
Nobody likes the idea of drug addicts in their backyard, but New Jersey has a problem: record numbers of HIV cases contracted through shared, contaminated needles.
One solution? Needle exchanges. Return used needles and get clean replacements. The controversy? Critics say the pilot programs, now up and running in five cities across the state, do little to promote recovery, and only encourage addiction. Proponents disagree, and describe success stories like that of Roberto Martinez, a former heroin user now enrolled in a Newark-based methadone clinic that his local needle exchange recommended.
Reasonable answer to an escalating health scare? Or, an ineffective way to reduce substance abuse, which for many is the real concern?
Host Raymond Brown moderates a discussion with the Roseanne Scotti of the Drug Policy Alliance, and former prosecutor and drug enforcement official, Terrence Farley.
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