LAWMAKERS OK CLEAN-NEEDLE BILL

Divided Senate and Assembly Approve Program After Emotional Debate

After more than a dozen years and countless hours of impassioned
debate, the Legislature yesterday passed a bill to prevent the spread
of HIV and AIDS among drug addicts by allowing needle exchange
programs in six cities.

Gov. Jon Corzine said he would sign the bill into law quickly.

"The science is clear: Needle exchange programs reduce sharing of
contaminated needles, reduce transmission of HIV and hepatitis C and
serve as gateways to treatment," Corzine said.

For 13 years, lawmakers have wrestled with the legal and moral
paradox of giving addicts syringes to use illicit drugs. Opponents
questioned scores of scientific studies, the vast majority of which
have found that needle exchanges reduce drug users' exposure to AIDS
and do not entice more people to use drugs.

New Jersey is the only state in the country that does not allow drug
users access to clean needles, either with a prescription or through
community-based needle exchanges.

Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), the most vocal opponent of the bill,
pleaded with his colleagues on behalf of his Newark constituents who
live with the presence of the drug trade.

"What do we tell senior citizens on South Orange Avenue who are
afraid to come out of their homes?" he said.

Rice became animated as he railed against the bill. He called it an
"experiment" on people of color -- saying it disproportionately
affects minorities -- and compared it to the federal government's
infamous Tuskegee experiment, which allowed 400 poor black men to
suffer from syphilis without disclosing their diagnosis or providing treatment.

"The end result is the same -- death for a class of minorities and
women," Rice said.

Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex), a sponsor of the bill, said Rice's arguments
against it have remained the same over the years, as has New Jersey's
grim status: fifth in the nation in HIV and AIDS cases; first in
women with the deadly virus, and third in infected children.

"If Newark doesn't want it, Newark doesn't have to have it," Gill
said. "We've crafted the bill so it's permissive -- it would let
Camden try to save the lives of its people. Why not let them have a
chance to save lives?"

Camden, Atlantic City and Paterson have expressed interest in hosting
a trial needle exchange program, said Roseanne Scotti, director of
the Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey, one of the bill's supporters.

Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington) said she couldn't vote for the bill
after speaking to a parent who had lost a child to drug use. She
urged her peers to change the bill to ban the use of public funds to
support the needle exchange programs.

"We're using taxpayer dollars to send people deeper into the abyss," she said.

After more than two hours of emotional discussion, the Senate
approved the bill (S494) 23-16. Minutes later, the Assembly passed
the bill 49-27 with four abstentions.

"The action we are taking today will save lives," said Assembly
Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden).

After the vote, Corzine reaffirmed his support for the law.

"The bottom line is that this program will save lives," Corzine said.
"I applaud the Legislature for getting it to my desk, and I look
forward to signing the bill and seeing the program implemented rapidly."

Health and Senior Services Commissioner Fred Jacobs called the vote a
"great day for public health in New Jersey" and praised the inclusion
of $10 million for drug treatment services.

"Hopefully we will put this behind us and get on with the issue of
savings lives," Jacobs said.

Atlantic City health officer Ron Cash, who came to witness the vote
in Trenton, said the city already has passed an ordinance permitting
the pilot exchange program -- a requirement of the bill -- and could
have a syringe access program operating in three to six months.

"We've tried education, counseling," Cash said. "We just want this as
a tool to fight the disease."