When Dr. Hansel Tookes stood before his conservative Florida legislature, he knew he had an uphill battle ahead of him.
But there were too many lives at stake not to try.
His voice was clear and unwavering when he asked the legislature to consider a bill that would allow him to provide drug users with clean needles.
At that time in Florida, it was illegal to do so — and as a result, Miami led the nation in new HIV and hepatitis C infections.
Tookes knew the use of dirty needles was a pervasive problem. Some drug users were picking them up directly off the ground, desperate for relief but unable to access clean needles to prevent further harm to themselves.
This accelerated the spread of disease in the community.
“The simple epiphany that Florida needed syringe exchange came when I was a third-year medical student,” he explains.
