The Nation : N.Y. to Begin Giving Needles to Addicts

New York City today will begin giving drug addicts clean hypodermic needles in return for used ones as part of the nation’s first government-sponsored needle-exchange program to stop the spread of AIDS. The trial program has been hotly debated, and the limited group of addicts selected to participate in it are expected to encounter demonstrations by both supporters and opponents of the plan when they show up at the city Health Department’s Manhattan headquarters to receive their needles. City officials hope the program will curb the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which can cause the deadly disease AIDS and is transmitted most often by sharing drug needles and through sexual contact.