How about we do neither and they just return the money to its rightful owners (us, the taxpayers)!

No one gives out crack pipes. The needle exchange system is saving millions of dollars in health costs over the long run. By using clean needles the spread of AIDS is curbed. The cost of the needles is deminimus. Maybe less than 5 Cents a needle. One day in a hospital costs thousands of dollars.

In Canada, in Vancouver BC, there is a 'safe injection' site, it's saved many lives over and over again. Whether or not there are clean needles or sites around, it's not going to stop drug addicts from getting their fix, they'll do it either way so why not help them with the safety of it? And with the 'why not give the money to homeless mothers with kids', while I certainly believe and know that there are homeless/downtrodden people out there that need help and are doing all they can, I personally know more than a few who are just plain lazy to go get a job and instead take the taxpayers hard earned money. Actually I have a friend who's mother purposely got pregnant when my friend turned 18 several years ago so she could use the kid as a food stamp. She's perfectly capable of getting a job but nope, she'd rather mooch; she even told my friend when she turned 18 'You're 18 now, you could probably get some cheques too' which made my friend inexplicably angry, rightfully so. It's more motivation for her not to end up/be like her mother. And the sad thing is, she's working 40-60 hour weeks getting LESS than her mother is getting for sitting on her ass. Annnnnyway sorry for rambling, my point is that not everything is as clean cut/obvious as it seems. There are many details/scenarios to look at.

Clean needles are a cost effective way of saving lives. Lives are valued by society even if they aren't the kind of lives some people value. Thank goodness we still have compassion for the struggling people in the world.

see its backward thinking like yours that has seen the HIV spread in the U.S. when in other countries where they have needle exchanges and safe injecting rooms and free condoms the HIV has stopped ... Australia leads the world and no new HIV cases have been reported in 10 years ... so maybe the U.S. should get its head out of its arse and stop listening to the bible thumpers who think that prayers alone will stop this dreaded disease

I think a lot of the money spent in America could be going toward better things; however, the fact is, drug use will never cease, drugs are too piercing. AIDS and most cases of Hepititus are both incurable (as of now) and contagious (definitely not a good combination). So maybe the government isn't necessarily meaning to "aid" in drug use, but their intentions are directed for more long term purposes.