by Rebecca Williams

Created on: March 06, 2008

No. The growing problem of drug addiction is widespread enough here in the United States. We talk to our children now more than ever about drugs and how it affect their lives and having a needle exchange program on contradict what we're trying to do in todays society. I feel that it is in some way making it OK to do drugs. The financial burden of todays health care is rising and funding this kind of lunacy would only make the costs even higher, due to the number of people going into the emergency rooms for possible drug overdose, the treatment it will cost to put drug addicts through the court system to be legally charged with possession of an illegal substance when arrested. What type of message the government is trying to present to us?

Drug addiction is a problem that need to be addressed and this will only hamper the efforts of the people who are trying to quit. It's like the warning on a pack of cigarettes, it's there, however people still smoke. I have seen first hand how drugs affect the family, it is a devastating process to see the ones you love hurt themselves and the ones around them. To help solve the problem of addiction, is not to feed it thinking that it is going to eventually fade into the background. The result of this will be numerous overdose cases, which are already there creating a vicious cycle that will only continue.

What will happen if the program fails? Who will push the cost of scrapping the program if it does fail? What is this needle exchange program accomplishing by putting the needles in the hands of people deliberately? There are more problems out there that need to be taken care of than this. The dangers of this could be enormous. The government legally dealing drugs is what comes to mind with this needle exchange program, even though the needles are empty when they are exchanged.

I do feel that there need to be a governmental presence on fighting the drug problem that is plaguing the United States. There need to be more preventive measures that will help drug addicts kick their habits. I know there are drug treatment centers, however the addicts have to want the help. There are numerous factors that cause a person to do drugs and get addicted, which can be psychological, stress, financial and other underlying problems that are causing the addiction. The government needle exchange program doesn't fix the problem, it will only compound. This process need to be thought out thoroughly and tax payers need to petition it or voice their opinion about taking on the added cost of this before this is implemented.

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