Controversial program paying drug users for used syringes becomes permanent in NYC

New York City is permanently bankrolling a program that pays people up to $10 a day for used syringes, a controversial effort critics argue puts taxpayer dollars into addicts' pockets rather than getting them treatment.

The program, known as the Community Syringe Redemption Program, was quietly made permanent through Mayor Zohran Mamdani's first city budget after the city's $126 billion spending plan set aside $3 million to continue it beyond its pilot phase, the New York Post reported....