Pubdate: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 2014 The Baltimore Sun Company Contact: http://www.baltimoresun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37 Author: Timothy B. Wheeler Page: 13 HOUSE PASSES CITY NEEDLE EXCHANGE EXPANSION The House voted Friday to expand Baltimore City's needle exchange program, but not before members debated whether giving addicts access to more clean syringes could aggravate growing heroin use in the state. The measure, which passed 84-51, would lift the "one-for-one" restriction on swapping clean for used needles under the exchange program run the past 20 years by the city's Health Department. About 2,500 people have obtained 500,000 new syringes that way, reducing the risks of transmitting HIV and other blood-borne infections through the sharing of needles. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt