CORZINE PUTS NEEDLE EXCHANGE IN MOTION

TRENTON - New Jersey became the last state in the nation to allow drug
users access to clean needles without a prescription when Gov. Jon S.
Corzine signed legislation Tuesday to allow pilot needle-exchange
programs in as many as six cities.

"This is long overdue," Corzine said. "Quite simply, this bill will
save lives."

Atlantic City and Camden are expected to start the state's first
legal needle-exchange programs sometime within the next three months.
Both city councils passed needle-exchange ordinances in 2004 that
were ultimately struck down in court.

The South Jersey AIDS Alliance already has landed private funding and
hopes to locate a needle exchange at the Oasis Drop In Center on
South Tennessee Avenue in Atlantic City, according to group director
Keith Egan. The center already provides free HIV counseling, testing
and case management.

The Atlantic City Health Department wants to add the needle-exchange
component to its mobile health van.

"We have to see where it fits," said Atlantic City Health Director
Ron Cash, who has emerged as one of the leading statewide advocates
for needle exchange. "We want to go to those areas where drug users
are already at."

Health advocates have lobbied for needle exchange for 15 years. They
contend it is a major tool in combating the spread of the AIDS, HIV
and hepatitis C viruses. In New Jersey, unlike almost all other
states, the sharing of needles among drug addicts is the leading
cause for the spread of AIDS.

"We lead the nation in so many categories of HIV and AIDS cases, yet
it took so long to get this done," said state Assistant Health
Commissioner Laurence Ganges. "To me, that's the story. Think about
the lives that clearly have been lost. But now that we have this, the
work really starts."

The next step for advocates will be convincing local municipalities
to approve pilot needle-exchange programs. The new law leaves it to
town governments to adopt ordinances if they choose to participate.
The state Health Department then will choose six cities to conduct
two-year programs that will be reviewed by an independent agency.

New Jersey Drug Policy Alliance Director Roseanne Scotti - who
convinced Atlantic City and Camden to adopt its needle-exchange
ordinances - said she is hopeful larger urban cities such as
Newark, Paterson and Jersey City will opt in to the program as well.

"Ideally, this should be mainstream public health," Scotti
said.

Corzine said he hoped participating cities would be spread across the
state in such a way that the programs reach as many people as
possible. He called the pilot program "a first step" that would also
serve as a gateway to drug treatment. The bill also provides $10
million for drug treatment and requires programs to offer referrals
for HIV testing, drug treatment and social services.

Opponents said the program would send the wrong message to youth and
only help drug addicts go deeper into their addiction.

"Addicts don't need free needles to continue to get high," said state
Sen. Diane Allen, R-Burlington. "They need treatment to help them
kick their addiction."

It took Corzine's support to end years of resistance to needle
exchange in the Legislature. Gov. Christie Whitman adamantly opposed
the program as a state sanction of drug use. In recent years, the
legislation has been blocked by a handful of lawmakers on the Senate
Health Committee.

"Even when he was running for governor he was at the forefront,
saying this is the right thing to do," said Assembly Speaker Joe
Roberts, D-Camden. "I can assure you, that is not a popular thing to
say when you're running for office."

Roberts, the first legislative leader in the state to advocate for
needle exchange, said the effort stalled because there was little
political advantage to fighting for drug addicts.

"It's a disgrace that we haven't done this sooner," Roberts said.
"You had one or two loud voices on the other side and no visible
constituents (for needle exchange), so people say aEmove on to the
next problem.' But that's our job as legislators, to provide a voice
for the voiceless."

Roberts also credited Atlantic County's two Republican lawmakers aE"
state Sen. Bill Gormley and Assemblyman Frank Blee aE" for making
needle exchange a bipartisan issue. Both men served as bill sponsors.
Blee also proposed several key amendments to the law, including one
that required an outside agency study the effectiveness of the program.

In the end though, it was Corzine's support that proved key. For Riki
Jacobs, executive director of the Hyancinth Aids Foundation, the bill
signing was a long time coming. Jacobs helped craft New Jersey's
first needle-exchange bill in 1993.

"New Jersey politics have made this a difficult issue to advance,"
Jacobs said. "Today, Governor Corzine made a statement about the need
to speak loudly and forcefully about stopping AIDS."