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Needle exchange programs began springing up in the 1980\\u2019s during the AIDS crisis.

Countless lives have been saved by providing IV drug users with clean needles.

But even now, with hundreds of programs across the US and throughout the world, some states still view distributing needles as illegal.

This week, WABE reporter Jim Burress takes us to \\u2018The Bluff\\u2019, a neighborhood in Atlanta where a needle exchange program\\u2014breaking the law every day\\u2013 has become a vital part of a struggling community.