Mark Souder: “First off, we have quoted study after study on this House floor, indirect studies contracted out by different people at…”

“First off, we have quoted study after study on this House floor, indirect studies contracted out by different people at different times have, in fact, proven different things depending on what you want to try to prove. The net impact of it is it hasn't reduced HIV, and it has not reduced but, in fact, we have seen heroin addiction go up. Medical associations are on both sides of the record on this issue, because on the early days of this issue it showed great promise, and there was great hope that, in fact, it might work, but that it has not. What we really need is drug treatment, not drug enable willing. What you can see when you go into these difference centers and visit them is, as a matter of fact, some people come in, they see it as a way to get clean needles. But when you analyze the studies, it's not even that those who were using dirty needles used dirty needles less, they use heroin more. During the periods of time where they could get the needles at the distribution points, they get the needles at the distribution points. At other times, when they want to get caught up, they go get the dirty needles. It doesn't even reduce. In a case-by-case basis, there's not proven sustained evidence that it even reduces the dirty needles of those who go to the centers.”