GET OUT OF THE WAY OF NEEDLE EXCHANGE

Clean needles for intravenous drug users has been proven to slow the
spread of AIDS. Such programs must move forward in Camden and Atlantic City.

The small group of legislators who have successfully blocked
needle-exchange programs in Camden and Atlantic City from beginning
July 1 are doing a tremendous disservice to the people of those communities.

Frankly, they ought to quit meddling in something that really isn't
their business.

In an effort to combat the spread of AIDS and other deadly
blood-borne diseases, Camden and Atlantic City were ready to launch
pilot programs next month to put clean needles in the hands of
intravenous drug users. The sharing of dirty needles is one of the
main ways in which AIDS has spread in New Jersey. And the state has
one of the highest AIDS rates in the nation.

New Jersey had been one of just two states in the nation - Delaware
is the other - not to allow access to clean needles before Gov. James
E. McGreevey last year signed an executive order to allow pilot
needle-exchange programs in Camden, Atlantic City and another city
yet to be finalized.

But as a result of a lawsuit filed late last year by state Sens.
Thomas Kean Jr., R-Westfield, Union County, and Ronald Rice,
D-Newark, and Assemblymen Joe Pennacchio, R-Montville, Morris County,
and Eric Munoz, R-Summit, Union County, a state appeals court issued
an injunction last week preventing the needle-exchange programs from
beginning, at least until the matter is decided by the courts.

These lawmakers are dead wrong in their opposition on the grounds
that providing clean needles will encourage intravenous drug use. In
the 48 other states that allow access to clean needles, drug use has
not escalated because of access and the spread of the AIDS virus is
slowing. And some drug users in other states have taken advantage of
needle programs to find counseling or rehabilitation services, as
well as protect themselves and their loved ones from being infected with AIDS.

It's sad these lawmakers, none of whom represent Camden or Atlantic
City residents, think upholding a sort of zero-tolerance stand in the
war on drugs is more important than stopping the spread of AIDS and
other fatal diseases that are exacting a terrible toll in
impoverished communities in this state.

These lawmakers ought to stop standing in the way of a program that
could save countless lives and millions of dollars in medical care
for AIDS patients. They ought to drop this ridiculous lawsuit immediately.

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representatives in Trenton.