HEALTH BOARD WANTS TO TRY NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAM

GREENSBORO -- Guilford County could be selected for a state-funded program
that gives drug users the chance to exchange dirty syringes for clean ones
to prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases.

The county's board of health voted 8-1 Monday night to back the program and
propose that Guilford County be among the sites chosen to develop a
needle-exchange program. A bill creating the two-year pilot project has
been introduced in the state House of Representatives.

"I'm a recent convert. I was a skeptic," board member Frank Freeman said.
"But the hearings that we've heard and the material we've read say we have
a very possible benefit, and there's nothing to lose by giving it a try."

Needle-exchange programs are controversial. Supporters say they save lives
by curbing the spread of infectious diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C, but
opponents say the programs encourage more drug use.

The board, which heard from community members on both sides at last month's
meeting, heard no opposition to the plan Monday, when it sought advice from
an infectious-disease doctor, a criminal-defense lawyer and Sheriff BJ Barnes.

All said they supported the program, and all received a round of applause
from most of the few dozen people in the audience.

"The science behind the program is clear, consistent and convincing," Dr.
John Campbell of Moses Cone Health System said. He acknowledged, however,
that the programs can be politically testy.

Politics will certainly come into play if the needle-exchange bill is to
become law. At stake for the county is a share of state money that might
soon be available under House Bill 411, now languishing in the
Appropriations Committee.

If passed, the state would appropriate $550,000 each year for the next two
years to three N.C. counties to create and evaluate the programs.

Guilford is the second county to express support for the bill; Buncombe
County's health board did so last week. The counties would likely be
considered front-runners for the bill because nongovernmental agencies in
both areas already operate established needle-exchange programs.

The bill may appear in the budget put together by the House during the next
few weeks.

"If a number of counties seem to sign off on it, that may give the bill a
little more impetus to move," said Rep. Maggie Jeffus, a Guilford Democrat
and one of the bill's co-sponsors, speaking by telephone before the meeting.

Although it's illegal for anyone to possess drug paraphernalia, agencies
such as the High Point-based Wright Focus Group have operated for years
because law enforcement agencies have not cracked down on them. The new law
would change that muddled area, making volunteers and drug users immune
from prosecution while they're participating in the program.

Thelma Wright, who founded Wright Focus Group in the mid-1980s, attended
the meeting and said she was elated with the vote. The only opposition to
Wright and the needle-exchange supporters came from Ray Coble, a health
board member who wasn't convinced by the statistics put forth by program
advocates.

"There's a big gray area as to how they received the disease to start
with," he said.

But Monday was clearly a day for needle-exchange supporters, who now must
wait to see if the General Assembly passes the bill.

If Guilford County is chosen, it will be able to set up its own program.
The county commissioners and director of mental health must also support
the measure before it goes to Raleigh.

Advocates said many programs not only cut down on infections, but also lead
to lower drug rates of drug use.

"This will be like a carrot that will draw them to help," said Melvin
"Skip" Alston, a health board member and a county commissioner.