Pubdate: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 Source: The Times, Trenton, New Jersey Page: A17 Contact: Send letters to the editor to 500 Perry St., Trenton, N.J. 08618. Email: http://199.172.179.161/times/ LET NO GOOD DEED GO UNPUNISHED by Dawn Day Trying to save lives and slow the spread of HIV by giving out clean needles is a crime in New Jersey punishable by a fine and a sixmonth driver's license suspension. That was the decision handed down Nov. 7 in New Brunswick by Judge Joyce E. Munkacsi of the Superior Court Law Division. The defendants were Diana McCague and Thomas Scozzare, who had been arrested one cold night in April of 1996 while doing their lifesaving work in New Brunswick. They were volunteers with the Chai Harm Reduction Project, courageously following their consciences, while much of the rest of New Jersey was ignoring the spread of the deadly AIDS epidemic. Twenty thousand New Jersey residents age 13 and over have injectionrelated AIDS or have already died from it. New Jersey has the third highest injectionrelated AIDS rate in the nation. Half of all AIDS cases in New Jersey are injectionrelated. The defendants, Diana and Thomas, had no criminal intent. They were unpaid volunteers trying to save lives by slowing the spread of HIV. Our best AIDS research supports their approach. Careful scientific studies have shown that clean needle programs do slow the spread of HIV and do not increase drug use. Since 1991, the federal government has funded six studies on injecting drug use and the spread of AIDS and all six studies have concluded that cleanneedle programs are an effective and necessary tool against the spread of AIDS. The Medical Society of New Jersey, the New Jersey Public Health Association and their national counterparts all actively support clean needle programs as a way of slowing the spread of HIV. The New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on AIDS and President Clinton's Advisory Council on AIDS take the same position. An important aspect of the legal argument for the defense is that when there is a conflict in the law, lifeanddeath public health concerns are paramount. How could it be otherwise? The argument that clean needle programs are a public health necessity has made clean needle programs possible in Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco and several other cities and counties. Appeal of the conviction to a higher court is planned. If appeal is successful at the Supreme Court level, the Chai clean needle case will have made it possible to set up clean needle programs in all areas of New Jersey where these programs are needed. The massive disadvantage of the judgment against the defendants thus far is that the threat of arrest and punishment are surely deterring others from beginning this important lifesaving work now while the need is so great. Since the good intentions of the defendants have never been questioned, even by the prosecution, the Chai supporters in the courtroom last Friday were surprised and dismayed when Judge Munkacsi not only declared the defendants guilty, but chose to impose the sentence immediately. The lawyers for the defense, Alan Silber and Ronald J. Busch, working pro bono, had already declared their intention to appeal. Judge Munkacsi gave Silber and Busch only one week to attempt to secure a stay of the sentence from a higher court. Judge Munkacsi's fine of $705 per defendant does not seem that harsh at first glance. But Diana and Thomas, while they are individuals of great personal courage, are people with modest incomes. For each of them, $705 is a substantial sum. In Diana's case, she earns her livelihood as a taxi driver, so that loss of her driver's license for six months means the loss of her job for six months; longer if her employer is unwilling to hold her job open for her until she is able to drive again. And if the defendants do win on appeal Diana will already have suffered the income loss and disruption to her life and will have no way of regaining it. Continuing his normal life without being able to drive will not be easy for Thomas either. So what should the rest of us be doing, as this case slowly makes its way through the courts? We need to support the two bills now pending in the New Jersey legislature: one that would set up a model clean needle program with public funds and another that would make it possible to buy syringes without a prescription. Now that Government Whitman is no longer worrying about reelection, we need to persuade her of the wisdom of making it possible to save lives in New Jersey. In fact, favoring clean needle programs is not that politically risky. A Harris poll released this month showed once more that the majority of Americans favor clean needle programs to slow the spread of HIV. The AIDS epidemic is not only spreading pain, suffering, and death, it is also very costly. As officials responsible for our state budget, Governor Whitman and our legislators need to look at those costs. For a person with HIV, drug treatment with the new combination drugs can cost between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. The clean needles needed to avoid getting infected with HIV cost less than $1000 a year. In both New York and Philadelphia, effective clean needle programs, supported by public funds, are slowing the spread of HIV among persons who inject drugs and their wives and husbands and newborn children. New Jersey must take action also. The role of government is to protect the lives of its citizens, not create the circumstances that will cause their death. Every day in New Jersey another four individuals are infected with drugrelated HIV. We cannot let this continue.