You might expect that a law criminalizing syringe use in connection with illegal drugs would help keep those harmful drugs off North Carolina streets.

Robert Childs, executive director of the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition, argues that the law instead has negative unintended consequences. Childs made a case for syringe decriminalization during a presentation today to the John Locke Foundation’s Shaftesbury Society. In the video clip below, Childs offers some basic reasons for his stance.

2:15 p.m. update: Click play below to watch the full 50:36 event.

You’ll find other John Locke Foundation video presentations here.