Due to legal restrictions on obtaining clean syringes, transmission of blood-borne diseases is high among injection drug users. Drug users share and reuse needles because they struggle to obtain sterile syringes needed to consume one per use or per person. In the past, many thought the best option was to deny drug users any access to drug paraphernalia. Some still think this is the best option, despite evidence revealing how harmful this policy is. It is considered beneficial to the addict and society to deny easy access to drug paraphernalia. As a result, the United States has limited access to clean syringes in many areas by passing laws making the sale, distribution, and possession of syringes (without a prescription) illegal. Yet a 2002 publication from the Center for Law and the Public's Health points out that "evaluation research and field experience show that adequate access to syringes produces positive health effects without creating societal effects." negative” (Burris, Strathdee and Vernick 2). Laws that prevent access to clean syringes have done little to deter drug use, slow crime, or prevent new users. What they accomplished though; triggered an explosion of blood-borne diseases across the country. Since we now know that access to sterile syringes has been shown to limit the transmission of viral and bacterial infections among users who are currently unable or unwilling to stop their illicit behavior, we should take action to remove barriers to access. Even as more people realize that clean needles are part of the solution and not the problem, outdated laws prevent the sale and distribution of these life-saving tools. Shar...... middle of paper ......ringe Source, Disposal, and Pharmacy Sales in Harlem, New York. " Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association 42.0 (2002): S77-82. Print. Rasnake, Major Mark S., Major Nicholas G. Conger, Colonel C. Kenneth McAllister, King K. Holmes and Edmund C. Tramont « History of contributions "Studying Sexually Transmitted Diseases.": 61-65. Armed Forces Infectious Disease Society, April 2005. Web, October 17, 2011. "Needle Exchange Programs." , December 2005. Web. Szalavitz, Maia. “Why Obama won't fund needle exchange programs” Time May 16, 2009. Web October 18... 2011. .