Attorney General Curtis Hill Releases Statement After Lawrence County Opts OutO of ‘Needle Exchange’ Program

Attorney General Curtis Hill issued a statement after Lawrence County this week became the second Indiana county to cancel a previously-existing “needle exchange” program.

“Lawrence County is wise to back off the practice of distributing free needles to heroin addicts and other opioid abusers,” Hill said. “Handing out clean needles encourages substance abusers to shoot up and, in many cases, shoot up more often. Increased drug usage means increased likelihood of overdose and death. That’s a bad outcome that Lawrence County officials want to avoid.”

Attorney General Hill noted that the term “needle exchange” is a misnomer since programs typically distribute far more clean needles than the number of used ones they collect.