Needle Exchange Programs: Helping or Harming?

“The lesser of two evils is still evil.” – Solomon King

We open today’s post with this quote by the 1970’s singer famous for She Wears My Ring. Due to recent legislation passed by North Carolina for the approval of needle exchange programs.

Needle exchange programs (NEP) are social service programs that allows injecting drug users (IDUs) to obtain hypodermic needles and associated paraphernalia at little or no cost. While NEPs provide most or all equipment free of charge, some exchange programs require service users to return used syringes to receive an equal number of new syringes.

The goal of the programs are to reduce the risk factors of contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, which are associated with needle reuse and sharing.

This is what happens to a needle after multiple uses. The photo illustrates one reason why sharing and reusing needles is HUGE RISK.

While exchanging needles is extremely risky, we believe this piece of legislation promotes the use of drugs. With the opioid addiction epidemic increasing, lawmakers should be finding alternative ways to help curb the demand for drugs and battle addiction.

This is one reason why so many opioid treatment programs have started opening in these past few years. Opioid treatment programs give people the ability to live without drugs and have stability in their lives. Treatment centers don’t believe in choosing between two evils, because as Solomon King said…they are still evil.