Todd Tiahrt: “This is a clear choice. This is not about the needle exchange program. This is about protecting children. One of the…”

“This is a clear choice. This is not about the needle exchange program. This is about protecting children. One of the comments that was made by the gentleman from Virginia was that this will keep the needle exchange program 1,000 feet away from the children from where they are playing; that is exactly the point. We want to protect the children. The gentlewoman from the District of Columbia said there is no evidence that these needles come from the needle exchange program. Yet Calvin Fay, the director of the International Scientific and Medical Forum on Drug Abuse says, and I quote, ``first, most needle exchange programs are not exchanges at all, but are needle giveaways, since participants rarely exchange a dirty needle for a clean one, which means that the dirty needles remain on the streets.'' The only way we can protect the children is to keep these needle exchange programs away from the kids. My concern is that if this is not passed, and since there is no accounting for needles that are passed out to drug addicts, that they will be available for children to become infected by. While members may disagree on the effectiveness of the needle exchange program, I think we can all agree we do not want these infected needles in our children's midst, near public playgrounds or public pools.”