The straight dope
by David Benzion · 01/25/2007 6:19 amCourtesy the the left-leaning criminal justice-centric blog Grits for Breakfast comes word that some criminal-coddling pinko-commie state senator from East Texas named Bob Deuell wants to give free needles to drug fiends.
Here’s the catch–he’s a Republican, and a pretty conservative one at that. And a physician, who presumably has some real-world experience (rather than just intellectual theories) about how best to deal with drug abuse and HIV/AIDS.
Duell argues that needle exchange programs “save lives, save money and could actually help get drug abusers into rehabilitation and treatment.”
“I have seen extensive research that show programs like this reduce the spread of hepatitis and HIV, and do not encourage or increase the use of illegal drugs,” Deuell said. “On the fiscal side, the cost of treating a single HIV case run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars making this program cost-effective as well.”
Deuell also said this initiative may have the added incentive of getting drug users into treatment.
“The local health authorities who administer these programs may also provide drug counseling and treatment,” Deuell said. “This might be the only time we can get to these people and give them the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves. One study showed more than 1,000 drug users found their way into treatment through a needle exchange program.”
“As a physician and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I am confident these programs make sense from a medical and a fiscal standpoint,” Deuell said. “I firmly believe this represents good, conservative public policy.”
I agree.
I’d prefer that needle exchanges be funded entirely through non-profit programs (ideally faith-based) using private funds, to protect the rights of conscience of those who consider such a program to be “immoral.”
But that’s a libertarian sword I’m not willing to fall on today, just so the “perfect” can be the enemy of the “better.”
Our current approach stinks, and I’m urging my State Senator to do the fiscally prudent–dare I say compassionate and even Christian thing–and sign on to this measure.
Please direct all complaints to LST’s managing editor, Matt Bramanti (see below).
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Look what it did for Holland!
Eric… I expect better from you.
Arguing against a needle-exchange program in Texas because of what life is like in Holland is like arguing against the death penalty in Texas because of what life is like in Saudi Arabia.
I don’t really understand the reasoning behind needle exchange programs. Most pharmacies will sell IV needles for about 15 cents apiece. There is no law requiring prescriptions for needles, so the only boundary to buying clean needles is some pharmacies refuse to sell needles without a prescription for an injectable drug. However, I can tell you there are many of the big chains that will sell needles to anyone. If a drug user is not willing to go to a local pharmacy and pay 15 cents for a needle, what makes you think they would go to a government facility to participate in a needle exchange?
Why are we typing so big?
let em share a needle, in the long run - one or two less junkies to steal from you and me.
“Not Yours To Give”, Col. David Crockett, US Representative from Tennessee
One day in the House of Representatives a bill was taken up appropriating money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. Several beautiful speeches had been made in its support. The speaker was just about to put the question when Crockett arose:
“Mr. Speaker–I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased, and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living, if there be, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living. I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has not the power to appropriate this money as an act of charity. Every member on this floor knows it.
“We have the right as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of the public money. Some eloquent appeals have been made to us upon the ground that it is a debt due the deceased. Mr. Speaker, the deceased lived long after the close of the war; he was in office to the day of his death, and I ever heard that the government was in arrears to him.
“Every man in this House knows it is not a debt. We cannot without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money as the payment of a debt. We have not the semblance of authority to appropriate it as charity. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week’s pay to the object, and if every member of Congress will do the same, it will amount to more than the bill asks.”
Same applies here.
Actually, I don’t thing the average aids case these days resembles anything close to hundreds of dollars. Healthcare claims examinations have shown recently that aids cases are averaging about $60 - $80k.
#6 hefitz– that horse is already out of the barn. We are already “giving” (i.e., “spending”) “other people’s money” (i.e., tax dollars) on drug abuse, AIDS prevention, and general public health measures.
The issue now is, do we spend that money wisely and efficiently.
5 - no compassionate conservative here.
6 - Ol’ Davey was a long winded sort, huh?
I think conservatives need to rethink our approach to the drug problem in general. “Conservative” should not be synonymous with “oblivious.”
Really David
Amsterdam - what a town - just don’t wear flip flops
Well since we are allowing illegals to cross the border maybe we could dtation vending machines, lighted walkways and busses to the major cities
Non-profit of course (or is metro making a profit)
I’m confused. How can a needle exchange program actually help get these poor souls into treatment? Do you put a warning label on the needles, or maybe a 10% off coupon on a week’s worth of treatment?
#11 Narly– My understanding of how these thins work is that street-smart volunteers go out to the places where people are shooting up and build relationships with the drug addicts. For every dirty needle they turn in, they get a free needle, no questions asked. Trust and a relationship is built, so when the addict decides they want to and are willing to try to get off the dope, they’ve got a contact who can get them off the streets and into a program.
Maybe we could combine the free needle program with a free condom. Of course, since everything is bigger in Texas, we couldn’t just adopt the New York version.
Benzion- Let me applaud you for a well reason and intelligent take on this issue. But did you not know most people on this site would resist it because it does make sense but does have a liberal bent to it?
And by the way #6, that quote has been done to death. Try a little originality.
First, David, thanks for the linkage and good job in the post and responses. To respond to Davy Crockett’s objections up there in #6, if you had half a clue what your government is paying right now for HIV care in this state you’d be shouting from the rooftops that we’re spending too much money on a preventable disease. Just HIV care in prisons alone is astronomical - 40% of the pharmacy budget for TDJC! Tell that to Crockett’s widow!
So when I see that hackneyed “not yours to give” quote I must admit I think to myself,” but they’re already taking so much!” Why not spend a little on the front end to prevent MUCH bigger expenses down the line?
Finally, #5’s smarmy and callous quote should basically be rewritten to say “Please raise my taxes needlessly,” because for every addict that dies I promise the public health system will pay a pretty penny before the end.
This is a sound, smart, and as Deuell says, even a conservative policy, especially a fiscally conservative one. Glad to see there’s support for it at LST. Best,
One more important point: This is not a spending bill! All Deuell’s bill does is give counties the option to do needle exchange. It would still be up to local officials to decide whether they wanted to do this in their communities. It’s important to be clear that SB 308 wouldn’t mandate needle exchange for anyone, it would merely allow local officials the option to create such programs. Best,
I agree with #6 and anyone who believes in small gov’t, state’s rights, and individual freedom has got to see that the War on Drugs, Prohibition II has been a trillion dollar boondoggle. Drug use has soared during Prohibition. We could use nothing but the taxes (use tax) brought in by the legal, regulated sale of these drugs to adults over 21, to fund good rehab for those who need it, including alcoholics. Leave the people alone who use responsibly, just like with alcohol. No cost to the taxpayer. Huge reduction in crime — black markets have no profit incentive against a legal market. Free up approximately half of all law enforcement time to deal with actual crimes against people & property. Send the DEA to the border. Oh, yeah…end our drug war & go a long way to ending the chaos in Mexico that has lead to this mass exodus. I’m tired of hundreds of billions of tax dollars at the Fed, State & local levels, going toward trying to stop my neighbor from smoking pot. I’m sorry but border security and terrorism & education are more important to me. Only a small percentage of people that ever use drugs & alcohol become addicts who are unable to run their lives. Focusing a law enforcement approach on the entire group (It is estimated 95 million Americans have used illegal drugs at least once) is a huge waste of resources & bad social policy.