NEEDLE PROGRAM NO SPUR TO CRIME

City's Exchange Effort Has Little Effect On Arrests, Study Finds

Distributing clean needles to addicts has not contributed to
drug-related crime or to the number of discarded syringes in streets
and alleys, according to a study of Baltimore's needle-exchange program.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health said arrest
patterns were not significantly different in areas served by the
program than in other areas of the city. This held true for cocaine
and heroin possession as well as burglaries, prostitution and other
crimes linked to drug activity.

By making clean needles available, the city's Health Department hopes
to stem the AIDS epidemic by reducing the practice of sharing dirty,
virus-laden syringes. Dr. Peter Beilenson, the city's health
commissioner, said the study should answer concerns that the program
might contribute to the drug problem by sending an unintended message
that drug use is acceptable.

"It's not the science that's in question, it's the politics," said
Beilenson.

This year, Baltimore's program runs on a budget of $321,000, which
pays for staff, vans and needles. Another $250,000 pays for treatment
slots for needle-exchanging addicts who say they want to quit.

A U.S. Senate bill would permanently ban the use of federal money for such
programs. While the city relies on state and city money, Beilenson
said federal funding would allow for an expansion of the program, one
of the largest in the country.

About 8,300 addicts are registered in the program, which has dispensed
2.3 million needles during the past 4 1/2 years. Addicts receive a
clean needle for every dirty one they return. Two vans visit eight
sites around the city on a rotating basis -- returning four times a
week to some sites, twice to others.

In the study, researchers examined arrest trends in the eight-month
period before the program began and in the two years that followed.

The study found that cocaine and heroin arrests rose in neighborhoods
that lie within a half-mile radius of the distribution sites, but not
significantly more than in the rest of the city. Burglaries and
prostitution declined in the areas near the vans, but not by a
significantly wider margin than elsewhere.

In a separate study, 500 high school students were asked in a
questionnaire what factors would most likely prompt them to use drugs.
Almost half said they might use drugs if a friend or family member
started to do so. In contrast, 11 percent said that seeing someone at
a needle-exchange program would have that effect.

"It was quite clear that the major factors contributing to kids using
drugs were friends, peers and parents," said Dr. Steffanie Strathdee,
one of the Hopkins scientists.

A previous study found that drug use did not increase among addicts
taking part in needle exchange, said Dr. David Vlahov, a Hopkins
epidemiologist who studies the link between drug addiction and
acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Dr. Herbert D. Kleber, former deputy U.S. drug czar who heads Columbia
University's Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, said such
studies do not answer his philosophical concerns.

"I think it's a temporary solution to a more serious problem," said
Kleber. "I think good treatment is much more likely to decrease risky
behavior than needle exchange programs. All they do is perpetuate
dangerous behavior."