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Local Health Officials Considering Creation Of Needle Exchange Program

The rise of heroin usage and related hepatitis C infections in central Ohio has local health officials discussing plans to combat the issue, including a needle exchange program. Columbus Health Commissioner Doctor Teresa Long says no formal plans for a needle exchange program have been made. The number of hepatitis C cases grew from 10 thousand in 2013 to nearly 16 thousand last year in the state. Franklin County is on pace to record more than 14 hundred cases this year alone. Current law requires Ohio communities to declare an emergency before offering clean needles to residents.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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