Pubdate: Thu, 24 Mar 2005
Source: Republican, The (Springfield, MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Republican
Contact:  http://www.masslive.com/republican/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3075
Author: Fred Contrada
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

NEEDLE EXCHANGE PRAISED

NORTHAMPTON - On a day when he came to praise Northampton for its
commitment to needle exchange, the director of the state's HIV/AIDS
Bureau stopped short of appealing to Springfield to follow suit.

"Every community needs to be able to wrestle with this on their own
terms," said Kevin Cranston, who was in Northampton to commemorate the
ninth anniversary of the needle exchange program operated here by
Tapestry Health. Noting that Western Massachusetts has been a hot spot
in the spread of HIV, Cranston added, "We welcome any community
willing to take on proven HIV interventions."

Springfield Mayor Charles V. Ryan reiterated his opposition to needle
exchange this week, despite a recent vote by the city's Public Health
Council recommending such a program.

Many public health officials have touted needle exchange as a means of
slowing down the transmission of AIDS, hepatitis C and other
communicable diseases. While Springfield continues to wrestle with the
issue, Northampton has put itself in the vanguard as one of four
communities in the state to offer clean needles in exchange for used
ones. The others are Boston, Cambridge and Provincetown.

Timothy W. Purington, director of Harm Reduction Services for
Tapestry, said his program took 71,357 dirty needles off the street in
2004, despite a cut in state funding. According to Purington, the
program served 376 clients with a budget of $268,000 in 2001. Last
year, it served 686 people with a budget of $197,000. The vast
majority of those clients are from the Northampton area, Purington
said.

"It's a myth that the program draws people from Holyoke and
Springfield," he said. "That's just not the case."

Cranston, who works for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health,
presented Tapestry with a plaque commending it for its work. He
presented similar plaques to the city and the police department.

"This program has really set the standard for other needle exchange
programs," he said, "not only in Massachusetts but throughout the
United States." Needle exchange is particularly important because
Massachusetts is experiencing the sharpest increase in heroin use of
any state, Cranston said. He estimated that it has already saved
hundreds of lives and millions of dollars. Police Chief Russell P.
Sienkiewicz said that when Tapestry Executive Director Leslie Laurie
first proposed the program 10 years ago, he likened it to jumping off
a cliff.

"It's clear that the program has had a greater community and societal
benefit than to say no," he said. "I don't think you can deny that it
saves lives." In addition to stemming the spread of injected drug use,
needle exchange also gets people into drug treatment and other public
health programs, saving taxpayers money in the long run, Cranston said.

Supporters in Springfield are preparing a needle exchange proposal for
the City Council to vote on next month, but it is not expected to
receive the two-thirds' support needed to override Ryan's veto.
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MAP posted-by: Derek