A Bridgeport, Ct, needle exchange is to end due to funding difficulties.

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Bridgeport-needle-exchange-faces-layoffs-4691204.php

Needle exchange schemes offer clear needles and other injecting necessities including wipes, foil and ascorbic acid power to people who inject drugs only if they hand in an equal number of used needles for safe disposal.

The advantages are obvious, preventing disease transmission among the cohort of drug injectors while simultaneously reducing the number of discarded needles that create fear among communities and risk infection to members of the public and especially children, and to litter pickers.

In Bridgeport, heroin usage is at a peak so withdrawal of a needle exchange scheme at this time seems particularly perverse, In public health terms it is a false economy. The scheme was operating with two health department staffers who travel by van trading clean syringes for dirty ones to prevent the spread of blood-borne diseases like HIV and hepatitis. They now face possible layoff.