Pubdate: Mon Aug 30,1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ APPROVE NEEDLE LAW Nobody should expect that a needle-exchange program will solve all the problems associated with the fact that some drug users share needles and thereby inadvertently share AIDS and various infections diseases. It might not even be the best way of dealing with the problem. But a program like the one approved by the state Legislature and now awaiting Gov, Gray Davis' signature could be helpful. At the very least it might ameliorate some of the problems previous government restrictions have caused. Current state law prohibits the furnishing, possession or use of hypodermic needles without a doctor's prescription. Pharmacies keep more extensive records and exert more controls over needle prescriptions than over most medicines. The result is that needles have been made artificially scarce, so drug users tend to share them - often without soaking them in bleach, which would prevent the transmission of most infectious diseases. It doesn't have to be this way. In most of Canada one can buy a needle without a prescription, just as one might buy a bottle of allergy medicine. That hasn't led to huge additional surges in intravenous drug use. The best approach might be to repeal the laws that limit the supply of hypodermic needles. The more common model in the United States and in other countries, however, has been for the government to set up a needle-exchange program, whereby anybody who brings in a used hypodermic can get a new, clean sterile one. Those who use the programs aren't referred to law enforcement, but they can be and often are referred to drug counseling and addiction programs. That strikes us as more than a little paternalistic. It also means that taxpayers pay to furnish clean needles to drug users. While there's little question that a few hypodermic needles are less expensive than treating somebody with AIDS, the implicit assumption that the government should nick taxpayers to take care of everybody's problems is troubling. But that's the kind of program - not a state mandate but a change in the law that allows localities to set up their own programs (within certain guidelines) without running afoul of state law or inviting legal hassles - authorized by San Rafael Democratic Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni's legislation. It's a modest program that would almost certainly slow the spread of AIDS and infectious diseases. Gov. Davis should sign it into law. - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto