The Kentucky Senate has voted to revise the state's needle exchange legislation. The bill approved on Tuesday includes an amendment to specify that health facilities conducting needle exchange programs evenly trade clean needles for dirty ones.
Currently, officials can distribute more clean needles than the number of dirty ones turned in.
Senate Minority Floor Leader Ray Jones says the benefits to heroin addicts go beyond restricting the spread of disease. “It’s a way to get them into treatment," Jones said. "It’s a way to let them know that there’s help out there for them.”
Shelbyville Senator Paul Hornback was among the legislators voting against the measure. “I didn’t think it was right that we give away needles in the first place," Hornback explained. "I think we’re enabling addicts to continue their bad habits and that’s not what we need to be doing."
The amended bill now heads to the House.
