On the local level, public officials were arguing with street-level service providers about programs that seek to give new, clean needles to those who are hooked on drugs — the kind that people inject into themselves. Using sterile needles, instead of reusing or even (gag) sharing them, can do a lot to stop the spread of HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases.
The concern, which we share, is that when the outreach goes beyond needles — and information about where to get clean — and also provides other stuff that is, or can be repurposed to be, drug paraphernalia, that not only goes beyond what’s allowed by law, it also amounts to handing out ”party packs” for people who need to be mending their ways, not further indulging them.