needle exchanges

Five years after HIV tore through a rural Indiana town as a result of widespread drug use, a syringe and needle exchange program was set up in rural Nevada to prevent a similar event.

A Jacksonville City Council member says he will introduce legislation to authorize a program for drug users to safely exchange used needles for new ones at no cost.

The Justice Department has mounted a legal challenge to block the effort, claiming such a site violates federal drug laws and would enable opioid users.