Florida lawmakers passed a bill this past session that was signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis that allows Florida counties to launch needle exchange programs.  The catch?  No money to back it up.  The programs cannot use state or county money to fund the projects.  They must use private money instead.  There are three goals with the needle exchange programs... help fight addiction, mainly the opioid crisis... help prevent overdoses by utilizing drugs like Narcan, which has been used 1,100 times to save people from overdoses... and helping slow the spread of HIV, which is spiking at an alarming rate across the state.  Giving people suffering from drug addiction and HIV clean needles through an exchange program.  Is this the right way to get addicts cleaned up?  Or is it just a band-aid solution to keep disease from spreading?

GUESTS:

  • State Rep. Kamia Brown [D – District 45, Orlando]
  • Dr. Caridad Hernandez, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, University of Central Florida