NEEDLE EXCHANGE NEEDED IN TEXAS

Bill Day, a 73-year-old lay chaplain, may be thrown into jail for his
efforts to reduce suffering on the streets of San Antonio.

Only in Texas, according to a news story by Los Angeles Times staff
writer Miguel Bustillo, could Day be prosecuted for breaking the law.

Texas needs to join the 21st century and support Day in his efforts
to reduce suffering and save tax dollars.

Day's offense stems from a needle-exchange program launched by his
nonprofit group, the Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition.

Day was arrested on drug paraphernalia charges when a San Antonio
police officer spotted him exchanging syringes with prostitutes and
junkies on a seedy Alamo City street.

From Day's point of view, a law that prevents him from giving clean
needles to addicts is immoral.

From the point of view of every other state in the United States,
needle-exchange programs save tax dollars and reduce the transmission
of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.

So far, Texas lawmakers maintain the point of view that
needle-exchange programs encourage illegal drug use and undermine the
government's war on drugs.

That position has been rejected by the rest of the nation and by
numerous studies.

The Center for Disease Control and the National Institute of Health
support needle-exchange programs.

The National Institute of Health estimates that between 15 percent
and 20 percent of injection drug users have HIV.

The institute estimates that at least 70 percent of injection drug
users have hepatitis C. It asserts that needle-exchange programs can
reduce high-risk injection behavior by up to 74 percent.

Despite the singularly retrograde attitude exhibited by Texas
lawmakers, study after study has shown the effectiveness of
needle-exchange programs.

In 1998, U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher said, "There is
conclusive scientific evidence that syringe-exchange programs, as
part of a comprehensive HIV prevention strategy, are an effective
public health intervention that reduces transmission of HIV and does
not encourage the illegal use of drugs."

But lawmakers signalled that one day Texas could join the rest of the
nation during the last legislative session a bill passed permitting a
pilot needle-exchange program in San Antonio.

Unfortunately, that pilot program has not been launched.

In the meantime, Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed has said
she will prosecute anyone who distributes clean needles to addicts.

Her office even bumped up the charges against Chaplain Day from a
Class C misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor. That could result in a
year in jail for Day and his fellow church members arrested for
exchanging needles with San Antonio addicts.

The Texas Legislature should catch up with the rest of the nation and
permit needle-exchange programs.