NEEDLE-SWAP ACTIVIST THREATENED WITH JAIL

Texas Only State That Hasn't Started Controversial Program

SAN ANTONIO - Bill Day doesn't fancy himself an outlaw - and with his
Mr. Rogers demeanor, he definitely doesn't look the part. But soon
the 73-year-old could spend up to a year in jail for breaking a law
that he considers immoral.

Mr. Day hands out clean needles to drug addicts on some of the
seediest streets, because he's convinced that it reduces human
suffering by slowing the spread of HIV.

However, Mr. Day's actions are illegal in Texas - the only state that
has not started a needle-exchange program. So when a San Antonio
police officer spotted him swapping syringes with prostitutes and
junkies in February, he was arrested on drug paraphernalia charges.

"This is a moral imperative," said Mr. Day, whose nonprofit group,
the Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition, gets funding from his
church. "I have to keep doing what I think is right."

Mr. Day also has a personal reason for wanting to stop others from
contracting AIDS: He has the disease.

Sick and weary a decade ago, he called an ambulance, thinking he was
suffering from pneumonia. At the hospital, he was informed that he
had AIDS - and about two weeks to live. He overcame the odds.

He said his AIDS, which he did not contract through drug use, has
been stabile for six years.

Needle-exchange programs have been controversial. Critics claim that
they encourage drug use and send a bad message about the government's
war on drugs.

But the programs have grown, due largely to concerns about the spread
of AIDS and hepatitis C. The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has estimated that more than a third of U.S. AIDS cases
come from intravenous drug use.

Though some studies have questioned needle-exchange effectiveness,
most research has found that the programs reduce transmission of
diseases and save money.

Neel Lane, a San Antonio lawyer who is defending Mr. Day for free,
said Texas should admit it is behind the times.

Though Texas is the only state that has not begun at least a pilot
needle-exchange program in any city, lawmakers last year authorized
one - for San Antonio.

Bexar County public health officials are studying whether to launch
it, but District Attorney Susan Reed has warned she could prosecute
anyone who distributes needles because she considers the act illegal.

Ms. Reed has not explained why she opposes the program and her office
did not answer requests for comment.

Mr. Day and two associates, cited with him on Jan. 5, initially faced
Class C misdemeanors, which are punishable by a fine of up to $500.
But Ms. Reed's office and the police plan to increase the charges to
distributing drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, which carries
a possible one-year jail sentence.

Mr. Day's supporters say they are outraged that police and
prosecutors are treating the activists as criminals.

"How silly to arrest senior citizens who are trying to stop the
spread of HIV in their community," said Jill Rips, deputy executive
director of the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, which provides HIV
testing and runs a hospice. "Don't police have something better to do?"