For a second year in a row, legislators are debating an extension of Indiana’s needle exchange law. Indiana began needle exchanges in Scott County when opioid use had sparked a major H-I-V outbreak there. Seven more counties, including Marion, have them now. A ninth county, Madison, allowed its program to expire last year. Indiana Hospital Association senior public policy director Trent Fox says it’s not only a public-health measure, but a step toward getting addicts into treatment, by giving them a point of contact with the health system.
