GOVERNOR OKS NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAMS IN 3 N.J. CITIES

TRENTON -- Declaring a state of emergency in New Jersey's most AIDS-
and HIV-ridden communities, Gov. McGreevey signed an executive order
yesterday permitting needle exchange programs in three cities.

The order drew an instant, angry response from First Assistant Ocean
County Prosecutor Terrence P. Farley, who said the order is a
get-out-of-jail-free card for drug abusers. He said the order will
make it impossible to charge anyone for possession if they have drugs
in a needle. He predicted drug sellers will package their products
that way and join needle exchange programs for immunity.

McGreevey signed the order hoping that the original needle exchange
bills would soon be approved by the state Senate. His order calls for
needle exchange programs to be set up in three New Jersey cities with
a high prevalence of injection-induced HIV. So far, Atlantic City and
Camden - which passed local ordinances creating exchange programs
before they got permission - will participate. The third municipality
hasn't been identified.

A pair of needle exchange bills passed in the Assembly three weeks ago
before stalling in a Senate committee a week later. One would allow
people to buy syringes from pharmacies without prescriptions, while
the other lets cities set up exchange programs.

The debate over needle exchange has been fiery, with some legislators
saying the measures would prolong drug use among minorities rather
than help addicts break their habit. Others say the measures would
save the lives of women and children.

"In these remaining days in office, I think it appropriate to focus on
those issues which demand attention," McGreevey said at the Department
of Health and Senior Services building. He plans to resign Nov. 15.

"The science is powerful and overwhelming, and we have reached crisis
proportions. . . . Lives are at stake," said the governor. He was
joined by Health Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy, who intends to resign
from the Cabinet after McGreevey leaves.

"The sharing of needles permits blood-borne diseases, and it has been
convincingly demonstrated that expanding access to clean syringes and
needles decreases sharing and thereby decreases the transmission" of
diseases, Lacy said.

HIV Rate High in N.J.

As of June, New Jersey had more than 64,000 cumulative cases of AIDS
and HIV. About half of those cases occurred in injection drug users,
their partners or their children. The state's infection rate is twice
the national average.

McGreevey's order leaves Delaware as the only state without a legal
exchange program.

"New Jersey has the most restrictive laws in the nation with respects
to giving people clean needles, and we have the AIDS and the HIV death
rates to prove it," said Assembly Majority Leader Joseph J. Roberts
Jr., D-Camden.

Farley was highly critical of the state's reasoning, saying it is
relying on reports put together by "self-reporting agencies" with an
interest in legalizing drugs. These agencies submitted skewed AIDS and
HIV statistics to make the needle exchange program look like a good
idea, Farley said.

Farley said the money being used for needle exchange programs could be
better spent on drug treatment programs.

There are other outspoken opponents. State Sen. Ronald L. Rice,
D-Essex, challenged McGreevey to a public debate on the issue in a
biting letter last week.

"Either someone has sold you a bill of bad goods, which appears to
have been often in your administration, or you are not using your
common sense and intellect to seriously analyze the information
available that disputes those who continue to argue that such programs
are successful," Rice wrote.

David Evans of the Drug Free Schools Coalition said
government-approved needle exchanges send a bad message to children
and create a nightmare for police.

"We are about to change our drug paraphernalia laws, and we don't have
a very effective plan, and I don't think it is going to work," said
Evans, who, like other opponents, wants more funds funneled into drug
treatment and prevention programs.

"This is not health care, this is death care," said John Tomicki,
executive director of Citizens Against Needle Exchange. "Studies show
that more people will die of drug overdose than of HIV and AIDS."

Overstepping Authority?

Some lawmakers said McGreevey is bypassing the legislative process
through the executive order, one of several the governor has issued
since Aug. 12, when he said he would resign in mid-November over the
circumstances surrounding a gay affair.

"The governor's executive order is an attack on the separation of
powers enshrined in the state constitution," said Sen. Thomas H. Kean
Jr., R-Union. "The members of the Legislature are direct
representatives of the people and a coequal branch of government, and
we need to conduct a thorough and thoughtful debate on the subject."

"Somebody needs to tell the governor that just because he is leaving
office . . . does not mean he has the authority to ignore the state
constitution," said Assemblyman Joseph Pen-nacchio, R-Morris. "He is
now abusing the power of his office and attempting to assume the
powers of the Legislature."