Does access to sterile syringes hinder other drug treatment efforts?

No. Many people who visit public heath organizations that provide syringe exchange receive referrals to drug treatment and other health and social services.  One study found that a Tacoma, Washington, syringe exchange program was the single largest source of recruitment to methadone maintenance programs in the country.

States with syringe exchange programs include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, New Jersey, and Oregon.

Does syringe access impede police work?

In 2000 the Cambridge, Massachusetts Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson reported that the syringe access programs in Cambridge had no impact on crime, no impact on the police's ability to make drug arrests and no impact on their ability to police in Cambridge.

Needle stick injuries decreased by 66% after Connecticut changed its paraphernalia and prescription laws in 1992, allowing for possession and sale of syringes.  IV drug users feel safer telling officers when they have a needle on their person if they are a SEP client.

Common Questions About Syringe Access

How does syringe access help Texas families?

By participating in syringe access programs, addicts take personal responsibility for their own health and safety and  the health and safety of their loved ones.  Studies show syringe access programs reduce high risk behaviors by up to 80% in clients. Syringe access programs are a bridge between health care workers, social service providers and difficult to reach  intravenous drug users; needle exchange programs link users who are often taking their first steps towards self-preservation with people who can help them.

How does syringe exchange save money?

Syringe exchange programs operate at a very low cost but save millions by reducing the occurrence of very expensive, chronic and deadly diseases.

What message does syringe access send to our children?

Syringe exchange programs are not advertised or promoted to the general public, and especially not to children.  Promotion of syringe access programs is discreet, often using word of mouth to reach a narrowly focused audience of people who are already injecting.

Common sense public health policy is not the same as encouraging drug use.  When the CDC urges that clean needles be used for every injection, they are giving medical advice to addicts not children.

While we continue to tell our children drug use is dangerous, we must remember that many Texans who have been infected with HCV and HIV are parents, or children of infected individuals. 

If we do nothing, what will we tell our children when they find out we could have prevented up to 60% of those infections?