THE LAST ONE STANDING

After 13 years of debate without action, New Jersey is now the only
state without a needle-exchange program -- a title the state should
be embarrassed to hold, especially since its accompanying titles
include fifth highest rate of adult HIV/AIDS cases in the nation and
double the national percentage of cases caused by injection.

There are two bills pending in the New Jersey Legislature regarding
intravenous drug paraphernalia. One bill, S-823, is intended to
permit the sale of syringes and needles without a prescription. The
other, S-494, moves for the creation of sterile syringe access
programs. It also contains the provision that the needle-exchange
program does not have to be enacted in municipalities that do not
want it. The governor, Assembly speaker and Senate president have all
expressed support for the bills although their progress is slow.
Essentially, there are only a few loud legislators who are
fundamentally opposed to both bills.

At the end of June, the state of Delaware, the remaining holdout,
voted to enact a five-year pilot needle-exchange program in the city
of Wilmington. Under the program, vans will enter areas where drug
abuse is a known problem and allow addicts to exchange their used
needles and syringes for clean ones. Referrals to drug treatment
programs, HIV testing and counseling are also offered with the exchange.

The type of comprehensive program offered in Delaware and proposed by
S-494, which that aims to both prevent blood-borne diseases from
spreading and help drug users become clean, is exactly what the state
needs. Additionally, as part of the Delaware program and proposed by
S-494, those carrying government-provided needles and syringes could
not be charged with having drug paraphernalia so long as actual drugs
were not found on their person. That kind of incentive would
encourage people to participate in the program instead of being
suspicious of it.

Opponents of the bill claim that it would encourage and enable drug
users. However, findings from the American Public Health Association,
National Institutes of Health, National Academy of Sciences and other
professional and scientific organizations directly refute their
evidence. In fact, studies have shown that besides reducing the
spread of HIV, clean needle and syringe programs reduce the spread of
other blood-borne pathogens such as hepatitis C.

Furthermore, the statistics in New Jersey clearly show that the
action -- or nonaction as the case may be -- at present is
ineffective. New Jersey has the highest HIV infection rate among
women in the nation. The state has the third highest number of
pediatric cases. Statewide, one in 65 African Americans have HIV and
that number increases to one in 31 in places such as Atlantic City
and Newark. This is compared to one in 837 white people infected
across the state.

It is a tragedy that New Jersey, normally one of the most progressive
states in the union when it comes to "liberal" issues such as
abortion and stem-cell research, is so far behind when it comes to
the issue of helping prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Now is the time
for legislators to relinquish their antiquated theories about drug
users and help the state earn some positive titles.