Columnist Examines Wisconsin Needle Exchange Program

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Mike Nichols examines a needle exchange program run by the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin called Lifepoint. Nichols writes, "There is little doubt it is saving lives," by reducing HIV infections and deaths from overdoses, but he questions whether Lifepoint is "legitimizing" drug use. In addition to distributing clean needles, the program also provides the supplies needed to consume drugs in order to limit sharing of such items, condoms, HIV information and testing, the opinion piece says. Nichols concludes, "You just hope that somehow, at some point, [drug users] really do get the message. HIV kills, after all, but so does heroin" (Nichols, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/19).

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