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Project Description
Benefits and Costs of Local Legalization of Syringe Exchange Programs
PI: Ricky Bluthenthal
Funded by: Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) are widely regarded as among the most effective strategies for the prevention of HIV among injection drug users. However, the establishment of SEPs has been curtailed through bans on funding, syringe prescription laws, and drug paraphernalia laws. In California, a recent law permits local jurisdictions to declare a public-health emergency exempting those in publicly operated SEPs from criminal prosecution. The goal of this project is to determine this law's effects on SEPs, on HIV risk and infection among SEP clients, and on the cost and efficiency of local legalization of SEPs. To accomplish these aims, a semiannual survey of program characteristics will be completed by each SEP. Annual site visits to programs will be conducted to observe program operations. Researchers will also conduct HIV-testing on 25 randomly selected clients from each of the 24 California SEPs every six months. Program cost will be compared with measures of service outputs, reductions in HIV risk behaviors, and estimates of HIV infections averted (based on client survey and models of HIV infection among injection drug users).
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