Dear friends,

Congress let politics trump public health when it banned funding for syringe exchange programs, despite volumes of scientific evidence that these programs save lives and money.

Now, for the first time since the 1980s, you and I finally have the chance to end this backwards ban.

Repealing the ban could come up for a vote in the House THIS WEEK. We can't afford to wait another twenty years, so let's tell Congress to save lives by ending the syringe exchange funding ban now.

Syringe exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS by making sterile syringes widely available, but states are banned from using their share of federal HIV/AIDS prevention money on these programs.

Repealing the ban costs no taxpayer money but will save lives.

Tens of thousands of people have contracted HIV unnecessarily since this ban was put in place in the 1980s, and many of them are dead now — all because politicians wanted to "send a message" about drug use.

You can help save lives AND dismantle a hysterical drug war policy. Join me in telling Congress to repeal the syringe exchange funding ban today!

Sincerely,