MCGREEVEY SAVES LIVES WITH NEEDLE EXCHANGE

It took a while, but governor deserves credit for order allowing this
needed program.

With no political strings tying his hands, the soon-to-depart Gov.
James E. McGreevey was able to do Tuesday what he should have done
long ago: He cut through a legislative bottleneck and issued an
executive order legalizing needle-exchange programs in three cities,
including Camden. It's a belated act of courage and common sense that
could save an untold number of lives.

New Jersey has one of the highest AIDS rates in the nation, and more
than half the AIDS cases started with infected syringes. It is
shameful that a handful of lawmakers continue to dicker over
legalizing needle-exchange programs while this disease spreads largely
unchecked through the state, particularly among black and poor residents.

One of the highest HIV infection rates is in Essex County, which
Democratic state Sen. Ronald Rice represents. But Rice is among a
quartet of Chicken Little lawmakers holding up two needle-exchange
bills. He and three Republican senators on a committee considering the
bills contend that needle exchanges will escalate drug use and spell
the end of drug enforcement efforts.

This is dead wrong. In the 48 other states that allow needle
exchanges, drug use has not escalated and the spread of the AIDs virus
is slowing. People also have taken advantage of such programs to find
counseling and rehabilitation programs, as well as protect themselves
and their loved ones from the AIDS virus. Only New Jersey and Delaware
forbid needle exchanges, and Delaware legislators are considering
changing that state's law.

Rice said he would rather increase beds for rehabilitation than help
New Jersey addicts avoid using an infected syringe. This is the kind
of cheap talk lawmakers have offered for years, but not backed up with
action or funding. Lawmakers have done nothing substantive in the more
than 20 years since the AIDS epidemic began. The least Rice and the
other lawmakers can do is join the Assembly in helping addicts look
out for themselves.

Two bills co-sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Joe Roberts,
D-Camden, and approved overwhelmingly by that house would legalize
needle exchanges run by government or nonprofit agencies and allow
anyone older than 18 to buy up to 10 syringes at pharmacies. These are
the bills that Rice is trying to kill.

It is fortunate for the many residents at risk for contracting the
AIDS virus that McGreevey not only feels compelled to do something for
these politically powerless residents, but no longer needs the support
of lawmakers such as Rice.

If McGreevey is searching for a legacy larger than the scandal that
precipitated his decision to resign, this executive order and his
pay-to-play order should do it. The homosexual affair McGreevey
confessed to is mostly a personal tragedy. New Jerseyans will recover.
The mostly unchecked spread of AIDS is a statewide calamity. The
devastation caused by this disease will be remembered much longer than
the indiscretions of a one-term governor.