NEEDLE PLAN NO ANSWER

TRENTON - One Senate Democrat from Essex County raised a few eyebrows this
week during hearings on a proposal to legalize needle exchanges for drug
users, likening it to Nazis and cult-killer Jim Jones.

Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Roberts, D-5 of Camden, is among the
sponsors of the plan, which is aimed at combating the spread of HIV and
Hepatitis C.

Sen. Ronald Rice, an ex-Marine and former Newark police officer, said
proponents of needle exchanges harbor a hidden agenda and seek a toehold
for drug legalization.

"I cannot believe any legislator would want people to remain junkies," Rice
said during a Thursday proceeding in which the Assembly Health Committee
approved the bill. "It's going to accelerate peoples' demise."