Pubdate: Sun, 17 Dec 2006
Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ)
Copyright: 2006 Courier-Post
Contact:  http://www.courierpostonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826

LAWMAKERS WERE WISE TO ALLOW NEEDLE EXCHANGE

New Jersey was foolish to ignore compelling data and  not allow 
needle exchange programs that stop the spread  of AIDS for so long.

It took a long time, too long, but New Jersey's state  lawmakers 
finally did the right thing last week and  approved pilot 
needle-exchange programs in Camden,  Atlantic City and four other New 
Jersey municipalities.

New Jersey had been the last state in the union not to  allow either 
needle-exchange programs -- in which  injection-drug users turn in 
their dirty needles for  clean ones -- or the sale of clean syringes 
without a  prescription.

Overwhelmingly, studies of needle exchange programs  around the 
nation and around the globe have shown that  such exchange programs 
slow down the spread of AIDS,  hepatitis and other deadly diseases in 
communities. And  in New Jersey, that's important. In 2005, New 
Jersey had the fifth most reported AIDS cases in the nation 
- --  48,431 -- according to statehealthfacts.org.

And, according to a 2003 report on the New Jersey  Deparment of 
Health and Senior Services Web site, more  than half of all New 
Jersey AIDS cases are related to  injection drug use.

Blocked

In Atlantic City, elected leaders moved to create a  needle-exchange 
program in 2004 when statistics showed  that one out of every 32 
African Americans in that city  was infected with HIV. But the county 
prosecutor,  acting to uphold the state's arcane drug laws, told the 
city it couldn't have a needle exchange.

Likewise, Camden, which also has a higher AIDS  infection rate than 
other New Jersey communities,  explored creating a needle exchange 
program in 2004. At  the time, the $70,000 cost of starting such a 
program  would have been equivalent to one quarter of the cost  of 
medical treatment for one HIV/AIDS patient for the  rest of his or her life.

So, not only are there public health interests at stake  with needle 
exchanges, there are also some real  financial benefits to having 
needle exchanges, as well.

Unfortunately, despite then Gov.-James E. McGreevey's  move in 2004 
to allow needle exchanges through  executive order, some New Jersey 
lawmakers bent on  giving no ground in the war on drugs, including 
state  Sen. and U.S. Senate candidate Tom Kean Jr.,  R-Westfield, 
filed a lawsuit and thwarted the attempt  to establish needle 
exchange programs in Camden,  Atlantic City and elsewhere in New 
Jersey. This handful  of stubborn lawmakers persisted in spite of 
much  evidence that needle exchanges work and that they don't  lead 
to more people using heroin and other injection  drugs.

Stopping AIDS

Certainly it's right to not want to create more drug  addicts. Our 
society has enough of them. But that's  just not what's going to 
happen from allowing  needle-exchange programs.

What will happen, hopefully, is that the number of new  AIDS cases in 
New Jersey will go down as these programs  are set up.

Communities where injection drug use and AIDS are both  problems 
will, at the least, see marked decreases in  the AIDS infection rate. 
According to a National  Institutes of Health report, communities 
with needle  exchange can see a 30 percent or greater reduction 
of  HIV cases among injection drug users. More than 180  U.S. 
communities have needle-exchange programs.

And the fewer who people get the AIDS virus from dirty  needles, the 
fewer people there are to spread the  disease through other means 
such as sexual intercourse.  Getting dirty needles off the streets 
should be very  positive, if the programs to be set up in 
Camden,  Atlantic City, Newark and other communities mirror 
the  results other U.S. cites have seen.

No one likes the idea of enabling illegal drug users,  which giving 
out needles represents. But the  alternative to needle-exchange 
programs is higher AIDS  rates, more hepatitis cases and, because 
those who  contract these diseases through drug use are often  poor, 
more people needing expensive health care paid  for by the state and 
federal government -- tax dollars  that come from all of us.

Needle-exchange programs save lives and save money in  the long run. 
There's no sane reason not to allow them  and it's about time 
lawmakers in Trenton used their  heads and approved them. We hope the 
programs are  quickly set up in Camden, Atlantic City and elsewhere 
and get to work slowing the spread of AIDS.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine