What is needle exchange and Harm Reduction?
Needle exchange programs allow injection drug users (IDU) to trade in their used syringes for sterile ones in the hopes of stopping the spread of HIV, hepatitis, and other blood born viruses. Needle exchange programs (NEPs) are part of a growing movement called Harm Reduction. The philosophy and practice of Harm Reduction represents a major shift in traditional services available to drug users. The philosophy of Harm Reduction works within a model of addiction as a specific regimen and not the description of a certain individual. In other words, there are no moral or pathological judgments regarding someone’s drug use and abstinence is not a stipulation to receive services. The practice of Harm Reduction utilizes a set of pragmatic strategies to reduce the negative consequences of drug use, incorporating a continuum of strategies from safer use, to managed use to abstinence. Needle exchange is only one aspect of Harm Reduction. Other services include, but are not limited to: the distri
