Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jul 2000 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) Copyright: 2000 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Contact: P.O. Box 15012, Worcester, MA 01615-0012 Fax: (508) 793-9313 Website: http://www.telegram.com/ WHY THE MANDATE? GOVERNOR SHOULD VETO BUDGET RIDER ON NEEDLES Having persuaded only a few communities that handing out hypodermic syringes to addicts is the proper way to combat AIDS, proponents now hope to spread needle exchanges across the state by legislative fiat. The budget rider -- tucked in among the hundreds of "outside sections" attached to the fiscal 2001 budget -- should be vetoed. Although AIDS activists have given top priority to establishing needle exchanges, communities have balked. Only Boston, Cambridge, Northampton and Provincetown have adopted the local option law. State Sen. James P. Jajuga, D-Methuen, sponsor of the budget rider and an avid crusader for needle exchange, couldn't persuade any of the communities in his own district to sign on. There is reason for caution. Although anti-addiction treatment and education about the danger of needle-sharing have proved effective against AIDS, the evidence that handing out syringes alone prevents transmission of blood-borne diseases is unpersuasive. Mindful of community skepticism, AIDS activists in Worcester have developed a promising "harm and risk reduction" proposal that emphasizes anti-addiction treatment and counseling. The needle-exchange aspect would function, in part, as an inducement for addicts to seek treatment and stick with it. To be sure, any program that involves supplying addicts with the tools of drug abuse, even peripherally, is likely to be a hard sell. The harm and risk reduction model was rejected by the City Council last year. Given time for further consideration, however, thoughtful political and neighborhood leaders may come to see the potential of a clinic-based program that focuses on giving addicts the treatment they need to get off drugs. A heavy-handed mandate would only stiffen local resistance -- a point underscored last month by the Worcester City Council's decisive 9-2 vote of opposition to the Jajuga bill. The councilors were right to resist the usurpation of local control. Gov. Paul Cellucci should use his veto pen to strike out the misguided mandate. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake