A key House lawmaker says he wants to end a ban on using public funds to support needle-exchange programs in the District of Columbia, the New York Times reported May 29.

Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.), head of the House subcommittee that oversees the D.C. appropriations bill, said, "It's politically obscene to have Congress tell the District of Columbia that it can't use local funds for something like needle-exchange programs, which have been proven to have a major effect on fighting a deadly disease (HIV/AIDS)."

The D.C. AIDS rate is growing at 10 times the national average, but federal lawmakers -- who control the city's budget -- have barred public funding of needle exchanges for more than a decade. Clean-needle programs have been proven to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among injection-drug users and also present an opportunity to intervene with addicts and refer them to treatment.

Serrano said lifting the funding ban will be one of his top legislative priorities, and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said that the city wants to fund a needle-exchange program as soon as the money is available. Needle-exchange programs do exist in D.C., but operate on private funding.

"D.C. is a city where a progressive local government wants to do the right thing, but a lot of factors work against it," said A. Cornelius Baker, former executive director of the Whitman Walker Clinic.