U.S. Attorney ‘skeptical’ of needle exchange program, but trusts officials who oversee it

FARGO (KVRR) – North Dakota’s new chief federal prosecutor says he’s skeptical of a program in Fargo that distributes needles and glass pipes to drug addicts.

U.S. Attorney Nick Chase made the remarks during an interview with KVRR Local News. It was his first interview since being nominated to the post by President Trump.

Chase says even though there are questions about the effectiveness of needle handout programs, he’s willing to give local health officials the benefit of the doubt.

“I think like most people, What? We’re giving somebody something to make it easier for them to ingest drugs?” Chase said.

“I’m skeptical. I’m naturally skeptical about things like that, but I trust those who understand the science and trust the people that are making those decisions that the benefits outweigh the costs…I believe in our public health people…I give them the benefit of the doubt.”

“I am not here to make it easier for people to ingest drugs. My job is to make drugs either completely unavailable, or so unavailable that we raise the price for some and they’re price-prohibitive.”

Chase says he plans to find out why drug overdose figures continue to rise, noting that the number of overdoses reported in Fargo this year has reached a 10-year high.

“I really want to get to the bottom of those numbers and what all those mean, but it clearly emphasizes, it reaffirms, I should say, the problem we all know that we have,” said Chase.

“You look at how many crimes have been gun-related in the Fargo area, almost all of them have some kind of drug nexus and so drugs have a violence attached to it. It is going to be a huge priority here.”

Chase is a former assistant U.S. Attorney. He most recently served as a state district court judge in Fargo.