Joe Loconte

About the author: Joe Loconte is the deputy editor of Policy Review: The Journal of American Citizenship.

Scientific research does not support the claim that needle-exchange programs (NEPs) reduce the transmission of the HIV virus that causes AIDS. There are many reasons why needle-exchange programs —programs that provide heroin addicts clean needles in exchange for used ones—are ineffective. First, heroin addicts are not concerned about their health and therefore continue to exchange dirty needles with one another even when enrolled in NEPs and engage in risky sexual behavior that puts them at risk of contracting AIDS. Second, NEPs do not require addicts to enter treatment programs, and since addicts do not seek treatment voluntarily but only when forced to by the criminal justice system, they continue to abuse heroin while enrolled in NEPs...