LOCAL NEEDLE EXCHANGE VITAL, DRUG EXPERTS SAY AT FORUM

Wilkes-Barre Rotary Club Hears A Warning That The Community Is Seeing A
Hepatitis C Epidemic.

WILKES-BARRE - A local psychologist who supported an area methadone clinic
said Tuesday several churches are interested in starting a needle exchange
program for drug users.

Robert Griffin said a church-sponsored exchange is the best way to proceed.
But he would like the mayors of Wilkes-Barre or Scranton to initiate
exchange programs through an executive order.

Griffin declined to name the churches that are interested in starting an
exchange program. He said their interest was the reason for Tuesday's visit
by Casey Cook, executive director of Prevention Point Philadelphia. The
group started a needle exchange program in that city and offers other
assistance to drug users.

Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said he would have to research the issue
thoroughly and talk with experts to determine how such a program might help
or hurt city residents.

Cook said a mayor can authorize a program or a local board of health can
declare an emergency to start a needle exchange. She said this area has a
growing Hepatitis C epidemic. Hepatitis C is spread through sharing needles.

"Syringe exchanges provide a bridge to drug treatment," she told the
Wilkes-Barre Rotary Club.

She said informal syringe exchanges exist even in Pennsylvania
municipalities where they are not sanctioned by an executive order as they
are in Philadelphia. She said no one in the state has been prosecuted for
operating informal exchange programs.

Businessman Robert Field, co-chairman of Common Sense for Drug Policy, said
Temple University's research of the law determined that informal needle
exchanges can operate in the state.

Cook's organization is pushing for Pennsylvania to allow over-the-counter
sales of syringes without a prescription. It is among five states,
including New Jersey, Delaware, California and Massachusetts, that prohibit
sales without a prescription.

"Pennsylvania is behind the times. It's costing us in people's lives," Cook
said.

Donald Fipps, chief executive officer of American Red Cross blood services,
attended Cook's presentation. He said the organization remains neutral
regarding needle exchanges because the state of Pennsylvania does not
sanction them.

Fipps said he personally supports such a program. "Anything that stops the
spread of fatal diseases is a good thing."

Mike Donahue of the Luzerne/Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol program said
the Department of Health should review the need for a local needle exchange
program because it involves risk reduction for Hepatitis C and HIV.