CLEAN NEEDLES

Needle exchanges have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without
increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an
especially hard-to-reach population. Drug users are not the only
beneficiaries. Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36
percent overall in the nation are linked to injection drug use or sex with
partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is
a direct result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean
syringes. In the interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope New
Jersey's tough-on-drugs politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous
collateral damage sooner rather than later.

ROBERT SHARPE,

Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.