Kathryn, at the risk of needling you overmuch (reader joke, not mine!), I think that it’s worth saying that the needle-exchange programs you criticized yesterday are a pretty sensible idea. Taking heroin is illegal (and the penalties for possession are tough), the conditions in which it is taken are generally squalid and the medical consequences of use are, as is very well known amongst all age groups, frequently disastrous. It’s pretty difficult to argue that (with the exception of the strong financial incentives given to pushers by prohibition) much encouragement is being given to those who want — despite everything — to shoot up. Provision of clean needles by the government doesn’t change the fact that the drugs are illegal, and nor does it somehow transform heroin into either a safe or salubrious product. What it does do, however, is substantially reduce the chance of spreading HIV, Hepatitis, or other infection from shared needle use (remember that hypodermic needles are relatively difficult to obtain without a prescription). As such, needle exchanges are not only humane, but save the taxpayer money — a twofer, if you ask me. They also help protect those who may (perhaps quite unknowingly) be in a relationship with someone who is using (or has used) heroin, and thus make excellent epidemiological sense.