Seattle government gives "free needles" to homeless addicts on and attached to a K-8 school.

In Seattle there's a big homeless camp adjoining a K-8 public school.  And once a week city health workers visit the camp to hand out free needles to the camp's addicts.

The encampment continues to grow because the Seattle school board refuses to order it cleared. Board president Chandra Hampson and her activist colleagues believe that would be inhumane. In fact board members demanded that the city NOT clear the homeless encampments.

Instead they're fine with local officials giving needles to addicts there.  Nearby residents and parents of students at the school witness open drug use.  But hey, it's all just an alternative lifestyle, so don't be concerned, citizen.

City workers hand out needles every Tuesday. Although the program is billed as a "needle exchange program," the city doesn't require junkies to exchange used needles for clean ones.  So what happens to the used needles?  The city and school board don't know and don't seem to care.

Unfortunately having taxpayers pay to give junkies free needles doesn't lead to treatment, which may be why the city doesn’t provide any data suggesting free needles helps junkies get clean. Instead the city views this as just reducing blood-transmitted disease--treatment for which, of course, is funded by taxpayers.  And if you limit the choices to just those two, it makes perfect sense.

A spokesperson for the city said the school board "has always been supportive of the services we provide.”  A spokesperson for city schools showed the district’s support while trivializing the topic, saying “We are certainly in support of the needles and sharps and things like that being dealt with and disposed of properly.”  Cuz as long as needles are "disposed of properly" that should end any objections to handing out needles on school property, eh?

Wait...I thought we established that the city has no idea what happens to the used needles.  Hmm...

Source.