Social - Find out if there is a needle exchange by you and go!

[dyingtomorrow]

SWIM had always wanted to check out a needle exchange over the years he was shooting heroin, but never made the effort to, and now after going there he regrets not doing so earlier.

Here's some of the benefits SWIM received just walking in the door and signing up, which was basically taking a 15 minute survey (with legal assurances of anonymity):

- A card that lets him legally carry needles in Chicago.
- A ton of free needles, alcohol pads, cottons, sterile water ampules, cookers; which SWIM can come back and get for free any time.
- An AIDS test which only took 10 minutes (SWIM passed, whew).
- Offer for other free IV disease tests (SWIM had been tested for other common IV diseases not long ago so didn't bother).
- Offer to get on a methadone program for free.
- All kinds of counseling and other support if SWIM wants to get clean
- $5 for taking a survey, and it would have been $50 if SWIM was between ages 18 - 25.

If SWIY lives in a big city, especially a liberal one, you will probably be amazed at the kinds of free services there are out there for you. If you have a needle exchange in your city, SWIM would seriously recommend checking it out!

Reputation Comments on this post:

thanks for the heads up! great post!