Celebrating a Resounding Victory for Syringe Access in Washington!

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Representative Jose Serrano (D-NY), along with Dr. Shannon Hader, Director of DC Government's HIV/AIDS Administration, gave remarks at the event and were among eight honorees to receive an award. Rep. Serrano, noting President Bush's inclusion of the DC ban in his fiscal year 2009 budget to Congress, stressed that attempts to resurrect the ban will be dead on arrival under his watch. Rep. Serrano also gave a shout out for lifting the federal funding ban on syringe exchange. This celebratory event was hosted by a diverse coalition of groups including the Drug Policy Alliance, AIDS Action, amFAR, Harm Reduction Coalition and the Human Rights Campaign.

The lifting of the ban in the Nation's Capital last December closed an arduous chapter for this city. During the nine year period when the local funding ban was in place, the city's only syringe exchange program, PreventionWorks!, relied solely on the generosity of volunteers and the goodwill of private donors, all the while working tirelessly to lower blood-borne infection rates amongst participants in the program.