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Biden Admin to Back Needle Exchange Programs!!!


President Joe Biden's administration is launching a new plan to tackle the rising number of drug overdose deaths, which includes setting up clean needle exchange programs and delivering fentanyl testing strips to drug users around the country.


Between 1999 and 2019, 840,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, according to a report released Wednesday by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). According to some estimates, the number of non-fatal overdoses is 20 to 30 times higher. Over nine million Americans abused painkillers last year. Overdoses claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 of those nine million Americans.


HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told NPR regarding combating these overdoses, "We are willing to go places where our ideas and dispositions have not permitted us to go [previously]."


According to NPR, the federal government will now directly sponsor harm reduction initiatives, which provide care and assistance to people who are actively using illegal drugs. Harm reduction strategies proposed by the Trump administration will fund clean needle exchange programs and deliver fentanyl test strips to active drug users. These two projects are intended to help drug users identify contaminated street drugs and to slow the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis that transmit through drug needles.


"We're literally attempting to save people's lives," Becerra explained.


Becerra, former Attorney General of California, will follow the lead of jurisdictions like California, New York City, and other communities where harm reduction programs are instated.


Building drug consumption sites, which are venues where officials supervise drug users to ensure their safety, is one of the more contentious components of harm reduction initiatives.


Becerra initially expressed support for drug consumption sites, however, a spokesperson from the HHS later walked back the comments Becerra made to NPR.


"But you can't implement this other kind of supervised consumption programs that you think work or that evidence shows work," Becerra added.


“HHS does not have a position on supervised consumption sites,” a representative for the Department of Health and Human Services told NPR. The topic is now being litigated. The Secretary was just stating that the Department of Health and Human Services supports various measures of harm reduction for drug users.”


In the country, drug use sites are currently prohibited. The Justice Department of former President Donald Trump successfully battled against the establishment of such locations in Philadelphia.


Despite the fact that many drug policy specialists support the Biden administration's approach, elected authorities and other jurisdictions continue to oppose harm reduction. In states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, there are grassroots initiatives to close or restrict harm reduction programs.


In addition to testing strips and needle exchanges, the administration's plan aims to improve drug treatment availability, develop initiatives to address racial and regional disparities in addiction treatment, and decrease the stigma associated with addiction in the United States.

This strategy is expected to cost $11.2 billion, for which the government is seeking funds from Congress.

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