FIGHTING AIDS

North Jersey's legislators have a chance this week to save
lives.

The Assembly and Senate will vote Monday on bills that would give drug
addicts access to clean syringes. The bills would slow the spread of
HIV among addicts, their sexual partners and children. Legislators
should vote for these life-saving measures.

New Jersey is now in the shameful position of being the only state in
which illicit drug users have no access to sterile needles. State laws
forbid pharmacists from selling syringes without a prescription, and
bar the establishment of needle-exchange programs in which drug
addicts could get sterile syringes.

In the age of AIDS, the state's antiquated laws have left drug users
to share contaminated needles, contract HIV and infect others. That's
a big reason why in New Jersey contaminated needles account for about
50 percent of all HIV infections, nearly twice the national average.
It has the fifth highest number of adult HIV cases in the nation, the
third highest number of children with HIV and the highest proportion
of women with the virus.

Other states have responded to AIDS by allowing needle exchange or the
sale of syringes without prescriptions. But in New Jersey progress has
been held hostage to the argument that giving addicts access to
needles encourages addiction and sends a message that drug use is OK.

A North Jersey legislator, Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Cresskill, is
among the longtime promoters of this view. We hope Cardinale and
others who have opposed needle exchange change their positions. Prior
to Monday's vote, they should review the numerous studies showing that
needle exchange programs don't encourage addiction, but do
substantially reduce the spread of HIV.

The bills before the New Jersey Legislature would allow up to six
cities to set up needle exchange programs. In addition, the Assembly
will decide on a proposal to allow non-prescription sales of syringes.
That also deserves approval. North Jersey legislators who are among
the sponsors deserve credit. They include Sen. Loretta Weinberg,
D-Teaneck, and Assemblyman Alfred Steele, D-Paterson. Bills on needle
exchange have passed the Assembly before. But in the 13 years since
legislation was first introduced, this is the first time it has
reached the Senate floor. That is reason to cheer. But the proposals
won't make a dent in the spread of HIV unless they are passed and
enacted. It's time to save lives and ease the suffering caused by HIV.
It's time that needle exchange became legal in New Jersey.