Does needle exchange create more injection drug users?
There have been six government reports on the viability of needle exchange in the United States and they all concur that access to sterile needles reduces the spread of HIV and does not increase drug use – and no research conducted on US programs contradict these findings. For example, three years after a San Francisco needle exchange program opened, the average age of injectors increased while the minimum age remained the same. Similar results also occurred in the New Haven NEP. And in New York City, the number of new users choosing to inject drugs has decreased since the deployment of their NEP. In 1993 Massachusetts also conducted its own study. Former Senator James J. Jajuga (D-Methuen) stated that research showed that needle exchange programs “did not enhance drug abuse as some believed. It did not increase crime in those areas where needle exchange was active,” Jajuga confirmed.
