Source: NBC News
Las Vegas recently installed vending machines with syringes as a new approach to deal with the rising heroin and HIV rates.
The vending machines make clean needles available to clients of the Las Vegas Hard Reduction Center, for the Trac-B program.
Users can access the syringe machine twice a week by using a card with a unique assigned ID code. The small, wrapped boxes come with several supplies to reduce risk, including alcohol wipes, safe sex supplies and the clean syringes.
The goal is to encourage users to reduce their risk of harm, explained program manager Chelsi Cheatom.
The center worked to install the machines in collaboration with the Southern Nevada Health District, and the Nevada AIDS Research and Education Society (NARES).
Congress had previously banned funding for syringe provider programs, but ended the ban last year after the 2015 HIV crisis in Indiana, where close to 200 people were diagnosed with the virus after sharing needles.
Read full story at: NBC News