Yesterday I mentioned the controversy over needle exchange programs as an analogy to the objection the administration has to providing heroin anti-OD kits containing Narcan to drug users. In a bit of good timing, the LA Times has an article about a 73-year-old HIV+ lay preacher, of all people, who was on arrested while working a needle exchange program--which remain illegal in his home state, Texas.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Via new acquaintance Tom Levinson of the Inverse Square blog comes an all-too-familiar story of our "compassionate conservative" administration putting their own morality above proven public health programs:
Fact 1: public health officials around the country...are distributing rescue kits […
. . .that's the message from Dr Bertha Madras, deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, to heroin and morphine users whose lives might be saved in the overdose situation by public distribution of "overdose rescue kits" comprised of a $9.50 nasal spray containing…
Say hello to the Office on National Drug Control Policy and to faith-based drug overdose prevention. One public health intervention that saves lives is the distribution of Narcan nasal sprays to drug users:
The nasal spray is a drug called naloxone, or Narcan. It blocks the brain receptors that…
This is an unbelievable statement from one of our top medical advisors. Heroin overdoses kill many people; there is a cheap rescue option, though, kits called Narcan that cost a mere $9.50 and allow people to save lives. The Bush administration opposes their distribution.
Dr. Bertha Madras, deputy…
Is that a death penalty offense in Texas?? If it is....I'm sure it will be stoning instead of The Chair
I like the "2%" quote in there. Haha.
Hey - I just found your blog. I love it! Keep up the good work. I especially like all the citations, if only the local newscasters and newspapers used half as many citations as you do...
Ah, back to the Dark Ages.
Bill Day, who has AIDS, calls his needle-exchange effort a "moral imperative."
The above is from your link. This is a poignant example of how diametrically opposed someone's conscience and the law can be sometimes. Too bad! I hope he gets out of it!
Dave Briggs :~)
At first glance, it makes sense to NOT condone those sorts of measures, but reading your post made me realize the difference between my personal judgments and public policy. Whoa, it's very important not to blend the two together.
Here's a hilarious comic strip that illustrates your argument.
http://www.bigfatwhale.com/archives/bfw_245_big.gif?