NEW PUSH FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE

The state's struggle to reduce AIDS transmission by the contaminated
syringes of drug users suffered a defeat last week when Governor
Cellucci vetoed a budget section that would have let health officials set
up more needle exchange programs.

The officials had hoped to win the governor's support for the measure,
which would have permitted the programs to be established in cities like
New Bedford or Springfield with input from - but without needing explicit
approval of - local elected officials. Already, needle exchanges in Boston,
Cambridge, Provincetown, and Northampton are working successfully to reduce
AIDS and hepatitis transmission without encouraging increased drug use.

The governor balked because the measure would have allowed the state to
override local officials' power to veto such programs. His concern is
misplaced - such a provision might have made sense when needle exchanges
were first established and had yet to prove themselves, but now the local
veto just stands in the way of one of the most effective means to limit the
spread of this scourge.

There are other ways to get sterile needles to addicts. In Connecticut,
addicts can legally buy them at pharmacies or get them from exchange
programs in five of the state's cities. An article in the current issue of
Annals of Internal Medicine encourages physicians to take advantage of
existing laws in virtually all the states allowing them to write
prescriptions for needles for injection drug users.

But as the Connecticut example shows, even in states in which addicts can
freely buy syringes, there is a role for needle exchanges. Through such
programs, addicts have access to health counseling and can avail themselves
of detox and rehab opportunities. In Boston, some 20 percent of
participants in exchanges enroll in drug-treatment programs.

The strongest argument for a renewed attempt next year on Beacon Hill to
change the law on needle exchanges is a set of statistics: In Lowell and
New Bedford, which lack exchanges, 60 and 58 percent respectively of all
AIDS cases are due to contaminated needles. In Boston, that figure is 29
percent.