City Revitalizations Challenge Drug Programs October 26, 2004
News Summary
Large cities that are revitalizing formerly rundown areas to entice middle- and upper-class residents to move in are also making it more difficult for drug programs, the New York Times reported Oct. 25.While gentrification has increased property values and improved police protection, it has also caused problems for AIDS-prevention efforts targeting drug users, such as needle-exchange programs.
At CitiWide Harm Reduction in the Bronx, N.Y., Daliah Heller, who directs an AIDS-prevention program, said revitalization has brought less tolerance for drug programs; police officers are stricter with addicted individuals, moving them to distant neighborhoods far away from caseworkers.
In 1992, a New York state law allowed needle-exchange programs. CitiWide Harm Reduction is one of nine established in New York City. It is also the largest and most successful such program in the country. But AIDS prevention advocates said they have had to deal with apprehensive neighborhoods, slow-moving bureaucracies, and hostile police officers. For instance, police officers harass CitiWide clients even though they show an ID card that proves that they are registered participants of a state-sanctioned program.
According to advocates, the fear of being arrested is contributing to a rise in AIDS among blacks and Latinos. These minority groups are more likely than whites to be stopped by police and searched.
Another factor that is preventing an even greater decline in the spread of the disease is the refusal of the U.S. Congress to allow syringe programs to receive federal funds.
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