Xavier Becerra: “Mr. Chairman, certainly needle exchange programs will not reduce the use of drugs. But all the evidence and all the…”

“Mr. Chairman, certainly needle exchange programs will not reduce the use of drugs. But all the evidence and all the research out there tells us that needle exchange programs do reduce the spread of HIV. The National Institutes of Health reports that needle exchange programs have brought down the spread of HIV by some 30 percent. When we consider that one needle costs a dime, and the estimate is that it costs some $120,000 to treat someone who gets HIV, we can understand why this is such a powerful program. When we put on top of that the fact that one-third of all the cases of HIV are now related to drug use, and the fact that most of the new HIV cases among women and children are related to drug use, my colleagues can see how powerful a weapon this is. Certainly, we just do not do a needle exchange program by itself. If we also want to address, and I hope we do, the issue of drug prevention, we have treatment programs, we have other avenues to try to make sure that we do reduce the use of drugs. But right now what we are talking about is trying to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV, and we should do whatever we can that has been proven to work to do so at a minimal cost.”