MCGREEVEY OKS NEEDLE EXCHANGES

Executive Order Targets Spread of AIDS by Intravenous Drug Use

Declaring the spread of AIDS by injection drug use a "public health
emergency," Gov. James E. McGreevey yesterday signed an executive
order permitting three communities to operate needle-exchange programs.

With less than three weeks left before he resigns, McGreevey acted on
a campaign promise to provide drug users access to clean syringes -- a
controversial measure that has failed to win legislative support for
more than a decade. A last-ditch effort to pass a bill allowing needle
exchanges before McGreevey leaves office Nov. 15 stalled two weeks
ago.

"Today, there are New Jersey communities facing a public health crisis
that cannot wait," McGreevey said during a news conference in Trenton.
Citing government-backed studies showing a decrease of HIV in cities
that permit syringe exchanges and sale, McGeevey added, "The evidence
is incontrovertible, and we've resisted that evidence at a high cost."

New Jersey has the fifth-highest HIV rate in the country, and more
than half of its 64,219 HIV and AIDS cases can be linked to injection
drug use. But New Jersey is one of two states that ban all forms of
needle distribution and decriminalization, McGreevey said.

McGreevey's decision surprised supporters and opponents of needle
exchange, as well as Attorney General Peter Harvey, who had waged a
legal fight against programs in Atlantic City and Camden and was not
informed of the order until yesterday, according to a spokesman.

A spokeswoman for Senate President Richard Codey (D- Essex), who will
become acting governor after McGreevey resigns, could not say
yesterday whether he would allow the order to stand.

"He hasn't had a chance to look at it, but he intends to review it
closely and wants to work with other legislative leaders," Codey's
spokeswoman Kelley Heck said. "He understands it's a sensitive issue.
He wants to give it the attention that it merits."

Opponents who contend needle exchanges promote drug use and harm
neighborhoods said they might wage a legal battle to block McGreevey's
order.

"Tragically, power politics has now been brought into this arena in an
attempt to overcome bipartisan opposition to this legislation.
(McGreevey is) making a farce out of the process," said John Tomicki,
executive director with the League of American Families.

Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex), the most vocal opponent of syringe
exchange programs in the Legislature, blasted McGreevey for "his
marked arrogance by dictating on high to urban residents who cry for
relief from drug abuse."

"The governor should use his last days of office to help push for
increased funding for more treatment programs, education and
prevention," said Rice, who is also Newark's deputy mayor.

The order declares a "state of emergency" until Dec. 31, 2005, and
empowers Health Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy to create rules for
syringe exchange programs in three municipalities. If successful, the
pilot program could be expanded. Lacy said the rules would be drawn up
in the next several weeks to fast-track the program.

The three communities will be chosen based on a high rate of HIV and a
high rate attributed to injection drug use, Lacy said. Local officials
also must pass an ordinance saying they want the program and
demonstrate they can link participants to medical and mental health
services, drug treatment, housing assistance and job counseling,
according to the order.

Atlantic City and Camden passed needle exchange ordinances in June,
although a Superior Court judge in September deemed Atlantic City's
ordinance invalid because it violates state law.

"If it saves one life, then it's worth it," said Ron Cash, Atlantic
City's Health and Human Services director. "This is the right thing to
do right now."

Rosanne Scotti, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New
Jersey, said it is unclear which other cities will volunteer. Cities
that have passed resolutions supporting changing state laws governing
syringes include Jersey City, Newark and New Brunswick.

Recent statistics show that among major metropolitan areas, Jersey
City ranked first in the nation and Newark seventh in rate of increase
in AIDS cases. Newark's HIV mortality rate in 2001 was the second
highest of any city in the country.

"Many of us in the state of New Jersey and across the country thought
that we would never see the day where there would be legal access to
sterile syringes to prevent the spread of deadly diseases," Scotti
said.

Members of the law enforcement community sharply criticized
McGreevey's order.

"We're against any needle exchange," said Ocean County Prosecutor
Thomas Kelaher, chairman of the County Prosecutors' Association of New
Jersey. "You don't try to solve one problem by creating another."

Kelaher said McGreevey's order raises many questions -- chief among
them what happens to the state law making possession of hypodermic
needles without a prescription a crime. A person charged with
possession of a hypodermic needle would be hard-pressed to argue in
court that the governor gave them permission, Kelaher said.

First Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Terrence Farley said New
Jersey has averaged 800 to 900 fatal drug overdoses annually for the
past five years -- nearly half heroin-related, Farley said.

Yesterday, reporters pressed McGreevey to explain how HIV rates among
injection drug users is more of a public health crisis today than when
he took office in 2002.

"In the remaining days of office, I think it appropriate to focus on
those issues which demand attention," McGreevey said. "At this
juncture, I believe it's important to act, particularly where there
are lives at stake."