Needle Exchanges Nixed and the Price Paid

In West Virginia—a hotbed of the opioid crisis—HIV cases related to intravenous drug use are spiking amid the cancellation of a 2018 needle exchange program.
 
Such programs are a CDC-recommended method for mitigating disease outbreaks among drug users. Still, they remain hotly debated.
 
A recently passed state Senate bill makes it harder for needle exchange providers to operate, requiring they provide a range of other health services as well.

“We’re pouring gasoline on the fire,” says Democratic Sen. Ron Stollings, a Boone County physician.

AP