NEEDLED TO DEATH

Texas Needs to Join the 49 States That Offer Drug Addicts Clean
Syringes to Stop the Spread of Disease

This month, three Christian activists were arrested in San Antonio as
they handed out clean syringes to, according to police, a group of
"known prostitutes and drug addicts" in exchange for their used drug
needles. Now, for their efforts to stop the spread of AIDS and
hepatitis, the activists, including an elderly man and woman, are
facing a year in prison.

The incident makes a a mockery of clear thinking in this state when
it comes to containing infectious disease among intravenous drug
users, the people who love them and even their babies: Texas is the
one state in the union in which it is illegal to run a needle
exchange program of any kind, even though such programs have been
shown to reduce the spread of HIV infection and hepatitis.

According to information maintained on the Web site of the Centers
for Disease Control, as of 2004, about one-fifth of all HIV infection
and almost all hepatitis C infection are the result of injecting
drugs with used needles. These viruses are then transmitted further
via unprotected sex and sharing of contaminated needles. Pregnant
women can transmit these diseases to their babies at birth or by
breast-feeding.

Congress has for the past 20 years prohibited the use of federal
funds to support sterile needle distribution programs of any kind --
even though the U.S. government spends billions per year on global
AIDS prevention. So it is up to the states to take on this important,
life-saving work.

Texas has at least started down this road. Last year, lawmakers
approved a pilot needle exchange program for Bexar County.
Frustratingly, District Attorney Susan Reed is doing her best to
thwart the effort. She made it plain to police and public health
officials that her office will recognize no protection against
criminal liability.

That stopped the pilot program cold. Now the county is awaiting an
opinion on the matter from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

Meanwhile, Bill Day, 73, Mary Casey, 67, and Melissa Lujan, 39,
members of the nonprofit group Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition,
first faced possession of drug paraphernalia charges, a Class C
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 after their Jan. 5
arrest. Reed now says she'll prosecute them for distribution of
paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in
jail and fines up to $4,000.

That's an abusive use of her prosecutorial office. Reed might not
care for needle exchange programs and all the good they can do in a
community to reduce the spread of infectious disease. But overzealous
prosecution of three people who clearly had no intention of profiting
from the sale of drug paraphernalia is a gross misapplication of the law.

"These are enormously decent, charitable people, and what's happening
with them smacks of persecution," Neel Lane, an attorney with Akin
Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, told the San Antonio Express-News. The
prestigious law firm is defending the group at no cost.

Studies show that needle exchange programs are effective at
controlling the spread of HIV and other blood-borne illnesses. And
the programs provide intravenous drug users with access to HIV/AIDS
counseling services and testing, substance abuse treatment and
screening for tuberculosis, hepatitis and other infections.

The research also shows that, contrary to public perception, clean
needle programs do not encourage drug use or trafficking. They save
tax dollars that would otherwise go to treat people who become
infected through sharing dirty needles.

Texas lawmakers should revisit this issue in the next legislative
session. Texas needs a fully funded, statewide needle exchange
program run by local public health officials. While they are at it,
legislators should include in the bill clear language that protects
clean needle providers from overly aggressive prosecutors.