Despite the lifesaving potential of these kinds of programs, syringe exchanges were federally banned at the national level from 1988 to 2015. A study published in the International Journal on Drug Policy attributes the end of the ban to shifting perspectives and lessons learned during the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The rise of HIV infection related to the growth of the opioid epidemic in the early 2010s was powerful enough to sway politicians who had been reluctant to embrace syringe exchanges. States in the years since passed their own laws to create exchange programs. Most recently, a bill authorizing community syringe exchanges passed in the Nebraska Legislature but was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Jim Pillen.

Syringe exchanges in Wisconsin include:

Bad River-Gwayakobimaadiziwin Exchange Program
Odanah, Wisconsin

Health Promotion Syringe Exchange
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

LifePoint - Marquette
Montello, Wisconsin

Madison & Dane County - Syringe Services Program
Madison, Wisconsin

Public Health Sauk County
Baraboo, Wisconsin

Sixteenth Street - Community Prevention Center
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Appleton
Appleton, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Beloit
Beloit, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Eau Claire
Eau Claire, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin

Vivent Health La Crosse
La Crosse, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Madison
Madison, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Superior
Superior, Wisconsin

Vivent Health Wausau
Schofield, Wisconsin

Critics often argue that needle exchanges promote drug use at the expense of taxpayer dollars, or that they feel unsafe around the people with substance use disorder that use them.

Research conducted over three decades, however, shows that syringe exchange programs provide a benefit to communities, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A 2019 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that syringe exchange programs reduced HIV diagnoses by as much as 18%. They've also been shown to save taxpayers money. In Indiana, a state-implemented syringe exchange program is expected to save taxpayers $120 million. People who use syringe service programs are also five times more likely to begin a drug treatment program and three times as likely to quit injection drug abuse, according to the CDC.

This story features data reporting by Elena Cox, writing by Dom DiFurio, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 46 states.