POLICE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW LOCAL ADDICTS ARE GETTING STATE-ISSUED
NEEDLES WHEN THE CITY REJECTED THE IDEA.

Although Lawrence officials have rejected attempts to bring a needle
exchange program to this city, some local addicts appear to be getting
clean needles from the state anyway.

The addicts may be commuting to programs in Boston and Cambridge, then
returning to Lawrence with both the needles and state-issued cards
identifying them as study participants, police say.

Lawrence police, who began encountering a handful of people carrying the
needles and the cards last month, are trying to determine how to handle the
situation, Sgt. Anthony F. Palmigiano said.

It is illegal under Massachusetts law for a person to possess needles and
syringes. Exceptions are made for people with medical needs, such as
diabetics.

The state identification card the Lawrence addicts are carrying, however,
tells police that the addicts are not violating the law by possessing the
state-issued needles because they are participating in the state's pilot
needle-exchange program.

These programs allow addicts to exchange dirty hypodermic needles for clean
ones. Promoters hope such exchanges will reduce the spread of HIV, the
virus that causes AIDS, by reducing the number of people sharing needles
contaminated with the virus.

State Sen. James P. Jajuga, D-Methuen, has championed such programs and
tried to bring one to the Lawrence area. City officials, including former
mayor Mary Claire Kennedy, opposed bringing a needle-exchange program here,
saying it condoned drug use and that the threat of AIDS alone should keep
people from sharing dirty needles.

Massachusetts, which began a pilot needle-exchange program in 1995, now has
four such sites: Boston, Cambridge, Provincetown and in the Springfield
area, according to James H. Hill, associate commissioner for management for
the state health department.

Although the majority of people at each site come from those communities,
Lawrence residents can participate if they can get themselves to the
exchange site, Mr. Hill said.

Addicts can only pick up as many needles as they turn in, he said. There is
no set requirement for how often they can visit the exchange site, Mr. Hill
said.

The wallet-size identification cards have a code number on them, not the
name of a participant, Mr. Hill said.

He said a police department could call the state to confirm that a number
on the card is legitimate. It might be more difficult, but necessarily
impossible, to confirm the person with the card is actually the person to
whom it was issued.

Lawrence police want to confirm whether the state program does exist, and
whether the cards they are seeing are not just something addicts have
"concocted" on the streets, the sergeant said.

Sgt. Palmigiano noted that the cards only allow an addict to possess the
needle - not any drugs.

"If they're carrying drugs with them, that's a different story," he said.

Mr. Hill said he could not speculate why Lawrence police were just
beginning to encounter program participants. He said there was no effort to
recruit people from Lawrence.

For now, police are honoring the cards, Sgt. Palmigiano said. He hopes to
get an opinion next week from the Lawrence city attorney on whether this is
legal.

Copyright 1997 The Eagle-Tribune