Pubdate: Sat, 20 May 2006 Source: Courier-Post (Cherry Hill, NJ) Copyright: 2006 Courier-Post Contact: http://www.courierpostonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/826 Author: Kathleen Dobbs NO TO NEEDLE BILL Re: "Adopt needle exchange and research institute" (editorial, May 4). Clean needles would not have kept the 22 heroin overdoses in April from happening. If this clean needle bill is passed, the entire state of New Jersey will lose millions of dollars for treatment funding. Even if the person suffering from the disease of addiction gets a clean needle, he or she will not be able to access treatment because the funding will not be there. Wake up. Addicts are dying from overdoses, not AIDS or HIV. Yes, it is a horrible disease, but look at the number who die from overdoses and then look at the number of those in New Jersey who have died from AIDS. You can get an insurance company to pay for HIV or AIDS treatment, but an addict is told to just stop. Insurance companies do not pay for addiction treatment. We at Parent-To-Parent say to state legislators; please vote no on the needle-exchange bill Kathleen Dobbs Parent-To-Parent Barrington - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake