DENVER -- A proposed senate bill would legalize clean syringe exchange programs in Colorado. Supporters said SB 189 would allow local health departments to take dirty syringes in exchange for clean ones, potentially cutting down on the spread of blood-borne diseases like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C among drug users.

“This is intended to be a public health measure to stop the spread of infectious diseases,” said Sen. Pat Steadman (D) Denver.

But opponents worry the bill will simply enable injection drug use.

“It does give kind of a wink and a nod towards the use of illegal drugs,” said Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R) Berthoud, who opposes the measure. “My common sense says a needle exchange program is a de facto drug legalization and I'm not going to go there.”

“No one's condoning illegal drug use,” Steadman argued. “No one's saying, ‘Go have a good time.’ What we're saying is, ‘Please be safe.’”

Currently under Colorado law, organizations are allowed to collect dirty syringes, but not exchange them for clean ones. In 1989, the city of Boulder instituted a law exempting some organizations from prosecution for exchanging clean needles for dirty ones.

But Boulder is an exception. Colorado is one of just 17 states where handing out clean syringes is against the law. But that has not stopped at least one group from trading needles in violation of the law.

“We remove syringes off the streets of Denver,” said Chris Conner, who works with the Underground Syringe Exchange of Denver (U.S.E.D.).

Since 2008, U.S.E.D. has handed out more than 11-thousand sterilized needles to drug users who bring in dirty ones.

Connor said the needle exchange does not just protect drug users from infectious diseases, but also their families and the public at large.

“[Dirty needles] wind up in our dumpsters. They wind up thrown away in public bathrooms or discarded in parks,” he said. “So this is a public health issue for all of us.”

Connor said countless studies have shown that syringe exchange programs can be extremely effective in fighting infectious disease without promoting drug use.

On its website, U.S.E.D. cites a 2008 policy analysis by University of Denver social work graduate student Sarah Coffey, concluding: “…needle exchange programs do not encourage substance abuse, they do reduce the spreading of HIV and Hepatitis C.”

But Lundberg said studies can be found to support just about any bill, and he vowed to fight SB 189.

“We've got a problem with illegal drugs,” he said. “Let's not make it worse by saying maybe, sort of, kind of, you can do it.”