LONG BEFORE LAW, SHE WAS FACE OF NEEDLE EXCHANGE

As AIDS activists and lawmakers proudly declared Tuesday's enactment
of a needle exchange law a "historic day for public health," one
woman who worked on the front lines of AIDS prevention in New Jersey
a dozen years ago couldn't help feeling heartsick.

Though Diana McCague now lives 2,000 miles away in New Mexico, she's
often reminded of the people she met in New Brunswick, where she ran
an illegal underground needle exchange program. The Chai Project
distributed hundreds of thousands of needles from 1994 until 1998,
when multiple arrests forced the group to abandon its mission.

"Word filters back to me still about individual people I met and
where they are now," McCague said. "They're dead."

While she's relieved by the new law -- which allows six communities
to host pilot syringe-exchange programs overseen by the state --
McCague can't muster much joy. New Jersey was the last state in the
country to make clean syringes accessible to drug addicts.

"There are some people who would say 'better late than never.' But
it makes me feel sad," she said. "It makes me think of the
incredible number of people who were sick and all the grief and
sadness felt by their families."

It doesn't take long for her sadness to give way to anger.

"We as a society in New Jersey didn't care," McCague said. "We
didn't care because the people who held the power weren't getting
HIV. The people who had the power to prevent those infections failed
their constituents."

In the eight years since the Chai Project stopped distributing
needles, 15,000 more people in New Jersey have been diagnosed with
AIDS or the human immunodeficiency virus that causes it, according
to data from the state health department.

The mode of transmission has remained consistent: Then and now,
nearly half of all residents diagnosed with HIV and AIDS -- a total
of 67,000 people since 1981 -- got it by sharing needles tainted
with the virus, or had sex with intravenous drug users who used dirty needles.

Few of the people involved in the battle to get the law passed this
year witnessed the Chai Project's role in the 13-year-old
legislative fight, but two longtime proponents say they firmly
believe the underground network left a lasting imprint.

"Their pioneering activities were important and did help shape the
debate in Trenton," said the Rev. Lisanne Finston, executive director
of Elijah's Promise soup kitchen and social service agency. The Chai
Project van rolled through the streets of downtown New Brunswick, and
as long as they were discreet, local police left them alone.

Ultimately, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, on orders from
then-Attorney General Deborah Poritz, brought an end to the Chai
Project by arresting members for distributing drug paraphernalia.
Poritz was appointed by Gov. Christie Whitman, who took a hard line
against the needle exchange concept because she said it sent a mixed
message to kids that using illegal drugs was okay.

"My opinion is they made an example of (the Chai Project) because of
political pressure," Finston said. "Sometimes I think the public is
out in front and it takes a lot longer for the political process to catch up."

Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) said he jumped on the issue as soon
as he won election in 1998. The night after the election, he and an
aide went to observe the Chai Project in action.

"They were involved in counseling and handing out literature and
taught the participants how to remain safe, and told them when you
are ready, we can help you get help," Vitale said. "It was very
well-organized. Diana, and those with whom she worked, were as poor
as church mice and were doing this literally to save lives."

After that, Vitale, a rookie lawmaker, asked veteran Sen. Wynona
Lipman (D-Essex) if he could sign on as a sponsor of a bill she had
proposed legalizing needle exchange. When Lipman died in 1999, he
became the lead sponsor until two years ago, when Sen. Nia Gill
(D-Essex) took over.

The Chai Project's work "drove me, and others eventually, to confront
the issue publicly as a policy initiative," he said.

Now that needle exchange is about to move from concept to practice,
McCague has some ideas on how New Jersey can make it work.

The new law includes $10 million to expand drug-treatment options for
needle exchange participants. Working as a private contractor for New
Mexico's health department training nonprofit and public health
workers who operate syringe exchange programs, McCague stressed the
importance of seeing addicts on their own terms, in their neighborhoods.

"You need to get out to drug users and have a conversation: What are
the obstacles?" McCague said. She said addicts seeking help may fear
losing their home or their families if they agree to go in for treatment.

Even without the benefit of a state-sanctioned program, McCague, said
the Chai Project gained the trust of the people, despite racial and
economic differences. Nearly all of the syringe exchange participants
were black; the Chai Project members were white.

"Really poor black people let us into their homes," McCague said. "It
took a while for people to understand that we were doing this because
we cared about them."