False Hopes and Virtues?
Editor:
The false hopes and virtues of a needle exchange program are always promoted passionately. But as a wise man once said, “Passion often rules but she never rules wisely.”
The results of a Montreal needle-exchange study, published recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, prove the point. Researchers led by Julie Bruneau of the University of Montreal found that intravenous-drug users (IDUs) who got their syringes at city needle-exchange programs got HIV more often than people who acquired their needles elsewhere, including over the counter in pharmacies , that’s legal in Montreal.
Nearly 1,600 IDUs were chronicled for 21 months and 89 got HIV; the probability for a needle-exchanger was more than double that of a non-NEPer , 33 percent to 13 percent. Despite the data, Montreal health authorities have upped the number of syringe services.
Promoters of NEP’s have attempted to discount data from studies like the one from Montreal or others that show a 20 percent increase in crime rates in the areas surrounding the centers.
Hopefully the full City Council will follow the wisdom of Councilman George Stevens and vote no on this matter. We don’t need to suffer the tragic fate of Montreal and other cities by implementing a policy that will worsen the plight of these people.
Ken Moser
(Editor’s note: Moser is a trustee for the San Diego Community College District.)
