needle exchange

Kelly Hans holds a box of Narcan nasal spray at the county's One-Stop Shop in Austin.

Indiana Needle Exchange That Helped Contain An HIV Outbreak May Be Forced To Close

6:00am June 01, 2021

by Mitch Legan

In rural Scott County, Ind., hundreds of people got HIV from sharing dirty needles. Now the syringe exchange widely credited with containing the outbreak is under political pressure to shut down.

NC Senate Bill Would Tighten Guidelines For Needle Exchange Programs

10:45am May 05, 2021

by Neal Charnoff

A North Carolina Senate bill that attempts to tighten syringe service programs has caused alarm among some public health advocates.

Arrow, a heroin user since the 1970s, is a client of Florida's first clean needle exchange, a pilot program in Miami that has proved so successful that conservative Republicans want to expand it.

Key Florida Republicans Now Say Yes To Clean Needles For Drug Users

11:30am June 27, 2019

by Sammy Mack

Florida has struggled for years with opioid overdoses — and the highest rate of HIV infection in the U.S. Lawmakers now hope needle exchanges and a "harm reduction" approach could help save lives.

George Patterson is one of the volunteers who run Phoenix's only syringe exchange program, a mobile program called Shot in the Dark.

Fight The Opioid Epidemic, All Agree. But Strategies Vary Widely

11:47am December 19, 2017

by Will Stone

Officials across Arizona agree that the state must solve its growing opioid problem. But some people fear that several strategies under consideration encourage drug use.

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Indiana State Health Commissioner Dr. Jerome Adams is President Trump's nominee for U.S. Surgeon General.

Trump's Surgeon General Pick Built Reputation Fighting HIV And Opioids In Indiana

2:41pm July 05, 2017

by Emily Forman

Dr. Jerome Adams is credited with persuading then-Gov. Mike Pence to authorize syringe exchanges in the state. If confirmed, public health advocates are hopeful he'll have sway in Washington.

An Addict, Now Clean, Discusses Needle Exchanges And 'Hope After Heroin'

3:38pm March 08, 2016

At the height of her addiction to heroin, Tracey Helton Mitchell lived in an alley and sold her body. Now she works as an addiction specialist helping others. Her new memoir is The Big Fix.

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Volunteer Patrick Pezzati searches yards in Turners Falls, Mass., for discarded heroin needles.

A Rural Police Chief Asks Citizens To Help Pick Up Used Syringes

8:55pm May 03, 2015

by Karen Brown

The rise in heroin use in the town of Turners Falls, Mass., has led to another problem: a proliferation of discarded hypodermic needles. Police can't keep up, so they've asked residents to help.

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Dr. Shane Avery (right) and Kevin Collins, Scott County's coroner, say the prescription opioid problem in their community has led to an HIV outbreak that's still expanding.

Indiana's HIV Spike Prompts New Calls For Needle Exchanges Statewide

2:32pm March 30, 2015

by Jake Harper

Southeastern Indiana is battling an HIV outbreak. The new cases are mostly linked to injection drug use and have reignited a debate over needle exchanges, which are currently illegal in the state.

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Needle Exchange Program Creates Black Market In Clean Syringes

3:54pm January 07, 2015

by Emma Jacobs

Some drug users in Philadelphia are reselling syringes they get for free at needle exchanges. That's illegal, but researchers say the practice still helps prevent the spread of diseases like HIV.

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