BRIDGEPORT'S POLICY ON ADDICTS IS EXAMINED

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A federal judge expects to rule by the end of
the month on whether the Bridgeport police violated her 2001 court
order prohibiting officers from harassing addicts participating in
the city's needle exchange program.

"My order may well have been written in invisible ink," Judge Janet
C. Hall of Federal District Court said on Friday, during a session in
which she questioned attorneys representing the city and the American
Civil Liberties Union.

Judge Hall issued a ruling in 2001 prohibiting the police from
stopping, searching, arresting or threatening anyone in possession of
30 or fewer needles.

At least five addicts have since been stopped by the police or had
their syringes taken, according to the civil liberties union.

The judge questioned whether all Bridgeport police officers had been
informed of her ruling and had received sufficient training.

Two supervisors previously testified that the information had been
circulated to officers, said Barbara Brazzel-Massaro, associate city
attorney. She also said the handful of alleged instances were only a
fraction of the approximately 6,000 needle exchanges.

Judge Hall's 2001 order was based on a state law that lets pharmacies
sell up to 30 needles without a prescription. The law is intended to
reduce the spread of blood-borne viruses like H.I.V. and hepatitis by
encouraging people to exchange dirty needles for clean ones.