Clean needles save lives: Exchange programs should be made legal
The Sacramento Bee
Aug. 25, 1999

A bill legalizing needle exchange programs squeaked out of the state
Legislature yesterday, raising hopes that -- after almost a decade of
turning its back -- California will at last allow cities and counties to
use this proven tool to prevent the spread of AIDS among intravenous drug
users, their sexual partners and their children. By signing the bill, AB
518 by Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, Gov. Gray Davis has the chance to show
he is both bolder and more compassionate than his predecessor, Pete Wilson,
who three times vetoed similar legislation.

A growing body of research shows that needle exchange programs slow the
spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and of blood-borne hepatitis
without increasing the use of illegal injection drugs. Yet California
remains one of a few states that still bans such programs.

It's time for that to change. Needle exchange programs discourage dangerous
needle sharing by allowing IV drug users to trade used syringes for clean
ones. They stem the spread of deadly disease not just among addicts, but
among their sometimes unwitting sexual partners and, most compelling, among
their unborn babies. Half the pediatric AIDS cases in this country result
from births to intravenous drug users or their sexual partners.

Wilson resisted legalizing the programs because of concerns they would
contribute to drug addiction. But research by a number of reputable
institutions -- the University of California, the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the National Commission on AIDS and the
General Accounting Office -- have found no evidence to support those
worries. The research has shown that needle exchange can reduce new
HIV-infections by one third. Those findings have been enough to convince
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan -- by no
accounts wild-eyed liberals -- to lobby actively for the Mazzoni bill.

AB 518 allows California cities and counties to establish locally funded
exchange programs in consultation with the state Department of Health
Services. The programs would be required to have counseling components to
try to get drug users into treatment.

Davis hasn't signaled his view of the bill. During his gubernatorial
campaign, however, he did state his desire to "stop this epidemic from
claiming more victims." That's exactly what needle exchange would do. Law
enforcement groups continue to oppose it, and that kind of opposition is
difficult for any politician to ignore. But Davis ought not to let the
political risks blind him to the deadly consequences that the continued
circulation of infected needles pose to California children.