EXECUTIVE ORDER OKS NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAMS IN JERSEY

TRENTON -- Three New Jersey cities with high rates of HIV infections
will be able to establish needle-exchange programs under an order
signed Tuesday by the governor.

Gov. James E. McGreevey's executive order declared a public health
emergency in the cities, paving the way for addicts to exchange used
syringes for sterile ones. It leaves Delaware as the only state
without a legal method for drug abusers to obtain sterile needles.

Cities eligible to participate in the governor's pilot program are
Atlantic City, Camden, and a third city yet to be identified. Atlantic
City and Camden had already passed local laws to start needle
exchanges, but their efforts stalled without legislative authority.

McGreevey sought to make needle exchanges part of his legacy by trying
to fast-track legislation into law before he leaves office Nov. 15.
But the measures had fallen victim to legislative wrangling.

"New Jersey has grappled with this issue for an extended period of
time," McGreevey said. "We have been unable to achieve consensus. The
goal of the executive order is to demonstrate that the science works
and to move forward."

Health Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy said needle exchanges are a proven
method of reducing the rate of HIV infection among addicts and their
sex partners. He said there is no evidence such programs promote drug
abuse among nonusers.

But Sen. Robert Singer, R-Lakewood, blasted the governor, saying his
directive "is defying the will of the people in a desperate attempt to
create a legacy."

The activist group Citizens Against Needle Exchange is contemplating a
legal challenge, according to its spokesman, John Tomicki. Both he and
the Republican senator questioned the scientific evidence concluding
that needle exchanges lead to a decline in HIV/AIDS infections.

The Assembly already had passed bills that would allow communities to
create their own needle-swapping programs and allow drug stores to
sell syringes without prescriptions.

The legislation stalled in committee in the Senate, where three
Republicans joined Democrat Ronald Rice of Essex County in opposing
the bills. Five votes are needed to move legislation through their
eight-member panel.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Woodbridge, a longtime proponent of needle
exchanges and head of the committee in which the legislation stalled,
said he still hoped to get the votes to move the bills to the full
Senate. One of the measures includes $10 million for inpatient drug
treatment.

A law would make the needle exchanges permanent and would allow the
programs statewide. McGreevey's executive order expires next Dec. 31
and applies to only three communities.

Meanwhile, Vitale savored the partial victory, saying, "In a very real
way, this program will be able to take hold in communities that want
it, where lawmakers have supported it and where we can measure its
effectiveness."

Rice, a vocal opponent, argued that more treatment beds, not clean
needles, will help stem the number of new AIDS cases.

A judge last month struck down Atlantic City's effort to start a
needle-exchange program. The judge made no comment on whether the
program was sound public policy, but ruled that city leaders had no
authority to begin the program under current state law.

The attorney general's office, which expressed concern about Atlantic
City's effort to give away clean needles, was reviewing the order
Tuesday, said spokesman Paul Loriquet.

The third city to be named must show its support for the program by
passing a local law authorizing it, and must have a rate of HIV
infection that surpasses the state average, the governor's order states.

State officials will draft guidelines for the programs and hope to
have the first operating within months.

There are an estimated 28,000 injection drug users in New Jersey,
according the state Department of Health and Senior Services, which
says 51 percent of the state's 64,219 HIV/AIDS infections are related
to injection drug use.