An End to Ideology Over Science: New Approaches to Lifting the Ban on Federal Funding of Syringe Exchange

The Harm Reduction Coalition in partnership with CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project), The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center and TAG (Treatment Action Group) are co-sponsoring this event. Syringe exchange is one of the most validated methods for preventing HIV. And as volumes of research so clearly demonstrate, it can also provide a bridge to health care, drug treatment and other services for people who are stigmatized and marginalized. But due to the efforts of Senator Jesse Helms and his allies twenty years ago, Federal funds cannot be used for syringe exchange programs – and the ban remains in effect up to the present day. Why are we still stuck with this ban, and who can lift it? Could this happen readily under a new administration or will it remain an uphill battle? How are advocates across the country escalating their efforts to triumph after years of willful ignorance and distortion? Last year the House of Representatives finally allowed local government funds to be used for syringe exchange in Washington, DC. This is a positive step forward, but many people would like to see needle exchange funded at the federal level. The panel, moderated by James Learned of CHAMP, consists of Paola Barahona, Physicians for Human Rights (formerly of PreventionWorks!), Louie Jones from VOCAL (Voices of Community Advocates and Leaders), and Daniel Raymond of the Harm Reduction Coalition. They will be discussing the insights gleaned from the D.C. victory and ways to roll back this nationwide injustice once and for all. For more information see http://www.harmreduction.org/article.php?id=733, or to be added as a co-sponsor, please contact James at jlearned@champnetwork.org or call (212) 937-7955 x 60.