NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM COULD MAKE DIFFERENCE FOR ALL

In classic mythology, the tyrant Dionysius had a sword suspended over
the head of Damocles, held in place by only a single hair. Dionysius
did this in order to show the precariousness of rank and power. The
"sword of Damocles" has come to mean an ever-present peril hanging
over one's head.

In the Sunday Telegram of May 22, there was an editorial cartoon
illustrating the needle exchange issue. In that cartoon, a
hapless-looking fellow labeled " Worcester" is seen sitting with a
syringe suspended over his head that reads " needle exchange." The
title of the cartoon is "Sword of Damocles, 2005."

I propose a different cartoon, also addressing the issue of
clean-needle exchange. In this cartoon, the figure is a concerned
looking African-American woman, since black women between the ages of
25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to die of the disease than their
white counterparts. The syringe hanging over her head is labeled
HIV/AIDS. The title of the cartoon would also be "Sword of Damocles,
2005."

The cartoon I propose more clearly states what needle exchange means
to the people of Worcester. People's lives, especially people of
color, are at risk. Needle exchange can save their lives, without
endangering the lives of others. The U.S. Surgeon General and
Secretary of Health and Human Services have declared that there is
conclusive scientific evidence that needle exchange programs do not
increase illicit drug use, but do reduce the spread of HIV.

When I speak on issues of addiction, recovery and public policy, I do
not usually bring racial issues into the conversation, since those
issues are divisive and take attention away from the primary
discussion of recovery and prevention issues. However, given the
demographics of HIV and AIDS infection, the issue of needle exchange
in Worcester is most certainly about race.

When we talk about people at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, we are
talking primarily about people of color. Fifty percent of newly
infected HIV cases are young people under the age of 25 and 67 percent
of the new AIDS cases among youth are African Americans. In fact, the
HIV infection rate has doubled among blacks in the United States over
the past decade, evidence of a widening racial gap in the epidemic
that is producing an "epidemic of color." It is apparent that
access to AIDS prevention and treatment has taken its place as a civil
rights issue. In the 1954 landmark civil rights case, the Brown v.
Board of Education decision handed down by the Supreme Court was
necessary to bypass local segregationist policies, in order to bring
racial justice and fairness to local schools. Intervention by the
federal government was needed to move forward on the important issue
of racial desegregation of schools, because local authorities were
mired in attitudes that prevented justice being served for all citizens.

Similarly, justice is ill-served in the needle exchange debate on the
local level in Worcester. Loud voices continue to mis-educate the
public regarding the efficacy of needle exchange programs as an
HIV/AIDS prevention tool. Those same loud voices do not fairly
represent people of color, like myself, or advocates of needle
exchange programs; rather, they repeatedly misrepresent facts and
ominously foretell consequences of increased drug use that have not
happened in other places with needle-exchange programs. The facts are
that needle exchange does not encourage drug use or drug addiction.
However, needle exchange does significantly lower the HIV/AIDS
infection rate. Needle exchange does not condone nor promote drug use.
However, needle exchange does save lives, by decreasing the HIV/AIDS
infection rate.

I am a citizen of color. Like my colleagues on the City Council, I,
too, bemoan a loss of local control on this issue. But unlike them, I
have not yet had access to local control. As a person of color, I do
not see anyone on the City Council who represents my voice on this
issue.

It is time for our state government, the commonwealth of
Massachusetts, to act for the common good, and bring the city of
Worcester to a safe and sane place where further devastation by
HIV/AIDS can be averted. It is time for a needle exchange program in
Worcester, one that serves all of us, regardless of color, regardless
of rank or power.