No diabetic has ever contracted AIDS from injecting insulin, because it's legal for them to buy clean needles.
I'm against the government paying for the needles or running the program. Heroin users should pay for their own needles at private stores.
I'm against the government paying for the needles or running the program. Heroin users should pay for their own needles at private stores.
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Call me a prude, but I feel the same way also. Why should the government pay to support an individual's drug addiction?
In Massachusetts, you can't buy syringes without a prescription. There might be a needle exchange program here -- I remember hearing something about it, but not sure how it came out. I know there's a methadone clinic in Boston, but last year or so, when it was proposed to make needles available without prescription, there was a hue and cry. Personally, I'm not sure I think anything should be available by prescription only; of course, health insurance shouldn't have to cover drugs that aren't prescribed. (I only care about the syringes, because I used to have a diabetic cat, my beloved Sadie, RIP 1991, so I needed a prescription for her needles; for insulin, I was surprised to learn, you don't need a prescription.)
In a perfect world, OK. In the real world, they will get aids and end up at county hospital, costing the taxpayers about $1k a day. Then they will get government supplied AIDS drugs, and government disabilty pay.
I would rather the government gave the $5 worth of needles.