Amid fears that providing free, clean needles would promote illegal drug use, Congress passed a law prohibiting the use of federal funds to support needle exchange programs in 1988. But at the end of last year, lawmakers effectively ended that ban.
According to an aide, the change was spearheaded by Kentucky Republicans Rep. Hal Rodgers and Sen. Mitch McConnell, in reaction to the nationwide heroin epidemic and the HIV outbreak among injection drug users in southern Indiana last year. Buzzfeed reports:
After Decades, Congress Effectively Lifts Ban On Federally Funded Needle Exchanges