Pubdate: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ DIRTY, DEADLY NEEDLES All California needs to help stop the spread of AIDS is Davis' signature on Assembly Bill 518. AN ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. How often have you heard that? More to the point, how often has Gov. Gray Davis heard it? Maybe not often enough. While Davis supported needle exchange programs last year during his campaign, he has been silent about this year's legislation that would allow local governments to set up needle exchange programs as a way to prevent the spread of AIDS. In fact, insiders worry that he is leaning against signing Assembly Bill 518. This bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, D-San Rafael, is a modest first step. It would provide no state funding for needle exchanges, but would merely give legal authority to counties and cities that want to create or continue needle exchange programs. Some programs exist already, but on shaky legal ground. In much of the Bay Area, underground needle exchanges exist while police turn a blind eye. Berkeley's program is technically legal only because the city council declares a state of medical emergency every two weeks. Santa Clara County established a needle exchange in the mid-1990s, but later withdrew funding under intense pressure from then-state Attorney General Dan Lungren. The current exchange program is run by volunteers with no connection to the county government. All the evidence shows that needle exchange programs do help stop the spread of AIDS, especially to women and then to the children they bear; they do not encourage illegal drug use. The federal government has officially acknowledged that fact. Indeed, politics is all that stands in the way of a nationwide needle-exchange program that would save thousands of lives. But until reason instead of emotion rules Congress, state and local governments will have to take the initiative to fight AIDS. AB 518 was approved by the Senate Tuesday; its next stop is the governor's desk. Two other bills approaching final legislative approval are AB 88, which requires insurers to provide coverage for biologically based mental illnesses at the same level they cover physical ailments; and SB 41, which mandates insurance coverage for contraception. By dealing with untreated mental illness and unwanted pregnancies they would, like AB 518, provide much-needed services while saving society from huge costs. We urge the Legislature and Gov. Davis to make all three become law. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart