NEEDLE ADVOCATES PUSH POINT

Exchange Supporters Will Testify For Three Defendants In Fresno.

Three times a week, Jane Boulger Austin wages war against AIDS - even if it
means breaking the law.

She sets up shop in public, sitting quietly under a tree, and efficiently
doles out hundreds of clean hypodermic needles to drug addicts.

In less than an hour, she can dispense more than 2,000 free syringes.

She believes she is saving lives by slowing the spread of HIV and AIDS as
well as hepatitis C. She could be cited and taken to court, like three of
her peers, but it's a risk worth taking.

"We are not trying to thumb our nose at the law," said Austin, program
director of San Joaquin Valley Exchange Works. "It's a big, big issue and
for those that think it's not, I just think they're in denial."

This week, needle-exchange advocates will try to apply the pressure in
Fresno County, where so far law enforcement and health officials have
opposed moves that would help legitimize the program.

Nationally recognized health and needle-exchange advocates will be in
Fresno on Friday to testify on behalf of defendants Jean Rodriguez, Bobby
Bowens and Audrey Alorro, who were all arrested last year after
distributing hypodermic needles without a prescription.

Attorneys for the defendants will appear in court to ask a judge to allow a
"necessity" defense: that they broke the law to help save lives.

"If we win in this case, it will establish the legitimacy of needle
exchange and the legality of it - that distributing needles is OK and to
stop prosecuting people who are doing this," said Jeff Taylor, a
needle-exchange advocate based in San Francisco.

"It's worked in all these other communities, why not in Fresno?"

Last month, Gov. Davis signed the first bill that legalizes needle-exchange
programs for IV drug users if the cities and counties declare an emergency.

In Fresno County, health officials reviewed the data and determined that a
local public emergency was not warranted, said Eric Villegas, supervising
communicable disease specialist for the health department.

But even before Davis signed the bill, California jurors found in favor of
needle-exchange defendants. In two cases, the defendants were acquitted.

"Most cities have just plain ignored the needle exchange program. It's
benign neglect," said Oakland civil rights attorney Katya Komisaruk.

"I would like to think that the DA will look at the evidence and realize
that at this point, the law and science says that needle exchange is now a
fact of American life. It's a silly expense for county even to bring this
to trial."

Studies have shown that needle exchange prevents the spread of HIV and
hepatitis C. Recent studies also have shown that bleaching needles is
ineffective in stopping the transmission of such diseases.

But Fresno County District Attorney Ed Hunt said he has no intention of
dropping the misdemeanor charges against the three defendants.

"I am not willing to turn my head because that is absolutely contrary to
the oath that I took for this office," Hunt said.

"I don't agree with needle exchange. If we give people who we know are
going to use heroin or injectable controlled substances a needle that is
professionally manufactured then we are not doing anyone any favors."

Drug users, including those who exchanged their dirties for clean needles
on Saturday, said it makes a difference.

Without people like Austin, they said they'd be diving through trash bins,
finding them on the street or hanging out near veterinary clinics to find
used needles.