Pubdate: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 Source: Wire: PR Newswire Copyright: 1999 PR Newswire SYRINGE EXCHANGE: Gov. Whitman Ignores Scientific Evidence in Favor of Right-Wing 'Study' Result: NJ Has Nation's Highest Rate of HIV Infection Among Women and Children Experts: 'She's Playing Politics with Lives' NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite solid scientific evidence that syringe exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV and do not encourage drug use, New Jersey's Gov. Christine Todd Whitman points to a study by the right-wing Heritage Foundation as her evidence against syringe exchanges, according to an article in today's New York Times. While the nation's most prestigious health and medical institutions have endorsed needle exchange programs, Whitman, who holds no advanced degree in science or medicine, claims these studies are "dubious, at best." "Whitman's opposition to syringe exchange is fuelling an HIV epidemic in New Jersey," said Ethan Nadelmann, JD, Ph.D., drug policy expert and director of the Lindesmith Center. "New Jersey now has the nation's highest rate of HIV infection among women and children. She is simply playing politics with people's lives." As Whitman nears the end of her term in 2001, Diana McCague, a syringe exchange activist, tells the Times, "It's unfortunate that the government's own statistics show that four people will be infected by injection-related HIV every day between now and then. That's 4,400 people between now and the end of her term." In 1998, Whitman's appointed Attorney General, Peter G. Verniero, released a study that was critical of needle exchange programs. Whitman frequently refers to this study when defending her opposition to syringe exchange. However, the Times reports that one of the sources for the 'study' was the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which also advocated conversion to Christianity as a cure for drug addiction. Numerous scientific studies have concluded that needle exchange programs dramatically reduce the spread of HIV and do not encourage drug use. Needle exchange programs are supported by the American Medical Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Public Health Association, the American Bar Association and the U.S. Conference of Mayors as well as other prestigious medical, professional and public health organizations. Based in New York, the Lindesmith Center is a drug policy research institute that concentrates on broadening the drug policy debate. The Lindesmith Center is a project of the Open Society Institute, the nonprofit foundation established by philanthropist George Soros to promote the development of open societies around the world. The founder and director of the Lindesmith Center is Ethan Nadelmann, J.D., Ph.D., author of Cops Across Borders: The Internationalization of U.S. Criminal Law Enforcement (Penn State Press, 1993) as well as numerous articles on drug control policy in leading scholarly and popular journals. Syringe Exchange Fact Sheet Available Online: Go to http://www.lindesmith.org/cites_sources/cites.html and click on "Syringe Availability" - --- MAP posted-by: Rich O'Grady