Thinking ethically about needle and syringe programs.
Accepting-for the sake of argument-our current legal policies concerning heroin use and its users, what ethical questions are raised for needle and syringe program (NSPs)? Do they weaken drug laws, send the wrong message or obscure the right message, do little to eliminate the harm of drugs, detract from alternatives, and/or constitute a counsel of despair? I suggest that in the absence of established better alternatives, NSPs constitute a morally acceptable and in some cases even desirable option despite the continued criminalization of injecting drug use. Yet they must be conceived and administered in ways that do not reinforce prevailing social prejudices.
Kleinig
John
J
Department of Law & Police Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, New York, NY 10019, USA. jkleinig@jjay.cuny.edu
D001290:Attitude; D003376:Counseling; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004989:Ethics; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D040261:Harm Reduction; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D018671:Needle-Exchange Programs / Q000941:ethics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control