Needles in the Heights

Well, interesting day at the Washington Heights Corner Project. Not that there were scads of patients or tons of addicts clamoring to get their ears needled, but there was a delegation of Russians visiting to check us out. It seems that the group is rather skeptical about the harm reduction approach (they share this much in common with American conservatives), but were willing enough to keep an open mind to see how it works and what it is we do (totally not in common with American conservatives!). Jamie, our fearless leader, gave them the tour. I was able to answer questions they had when they got to my humble acupuncture room (which, the rest of the time, is a conference room), and had the opportunity to educate them regarding acupuncture and NADA protocol. They were very curious as to how acupuncture fits in with harm reduction, and were surprised, I think, to find that it wasn't solely about throwing clean needles at some guy jonesing for a fix. They may also be surprised to find that, in fact, these are people also. Not criminals who have a hard-on to break the law, but actual people who are suffering, and who might do themselves even more harm. Here's hoping they come around to adopting the model.