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Argument: Needle exchanges send wrong message, approving drug-use
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Supporting quotations
Toni Meyer. "Making the case for opposing needle exchange". New Jersey Family Policy Council. November 16, 2007: "Due to their potential to take more risks, young people must receive a clear 'NO' on Drugs: Harm reduction campaigns like NEPs send the wrong message to the community and to young people. Rather than supporting the 'zero tolerance' message that they are most likely receiving from home and currently in school, NEPs send the message 'if you do decide to take drugs, we’ll help you with clean needles'. A report by Columbia University published in September 2001 is the most exhaustive study ever undertaken on data on substance abuse in schools and among students. The report’s data illustrates that even one exposure or an early pattern easily becomes an addiction in young people. One of the key findings states, 'relatively few students who experiment with a substance discontinue it’s use. Among students who have ever tried cigarettes, 85.7 percent are still smoking in the 12th grade, of those who have ever been drunk, 83.3 percent are still getting drunk in the 12th grade, and of those who have tried marijuana, 76.6 percent are still using in the 12th grade.'"
