Panel Favors Needle Swaps for Drug Addicts

Programs that provide clean needles to drug addicts reduce the spread of AIDS without increasing illegal drug use, and federal funds should be made available for such efforts, a major new report concluded Tuesday.

The study, conducted by a joint panel of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, focused on a vexing and controversial dilemma faced by many cities hard hit by both AIDS and illegal intravenous drug use.

While many in the public health community have supported needle exchange programs, they are frequently opposed by law enforcement organizations and others who view them as condoning, or even encouraging, illegal drug use.

But the panel concluded that needle exchange programs “should be regarded as an effective component of a comprehensive strategy to prevent infectious disease.”

The panel urged that the surgeon general--or a federal health official acting in that capacity--lift the current ban on exchanges so that communities seeking to establish such programs could do so.