A PREVENTABLE CRISIS

Needle exchanges have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without
increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an
especially hard-to-reach population.

Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women
and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the United States are linked to
injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs.

This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of
zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. In the interest
of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope that New Jersey's tough-on-drugs
politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous collateral damage sooner
rather than later.

Robert Sharpe, Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington