Needle exchanges show real results

Thank you for your Dec. 4 affirmation on the need and the efficacy of
needle exchanges. This politically divisive issue needs to be discussed
more often, especially in New Jersey, where we have the highest rate of HIV
transmission via needle injection.

Your opinion on this issue does not stand alone.

In January, an open letter was sent to Secretary of Health and Human
Services, Donna Shalala from Dr. Peter Lurie of the University of
California at San Francisco.

Lurie is a world-renowned figure in AIDS and public-health studies. The
letter sharply criticized Shalala's mischaracterization of needle-exchange
studies, and was signed by more than 30 public-health researchers and
practitioners from around the world.

Additionally, six government-sponsored studies were noted, all of which
concluded that needle exchanges reduced HIV transmission and did not
increase drug use in areas of operation.

No policy study ever has concluded that bans on needle sales and possession
had been effective public-health measures to combat intravenous drug use.

But we certainly have evidence on the devastation that such policies have
left in their wake, and why they need immediate revision.

John M. Koons
Sayreville