NEEDLE EXCHANGE STARTING IN N.J.

Counseling, Tests and Other Services Are Offered, Too, Trying to Stem
a Major Source of HIV Infection.

ATLANTIC CITY - Bobby Jones, a self-described heroin addict, had
never been to the Oasis Drop-In Center on Tennessee Avenue before.

But last month, when word on the street spread that the social
service agency was offering drug users salvation in the form of the
state's first legal needle-exchange program, Jones was among those
lined up at the former union hall waiting for clean syringes.

Outside of an authorized needle-exchange program, possessing
hypodermic syringes without a prescription is illegal.

With intravenous drug users and their sexual partners contracting
AIDS at a growing rate, health advocates say that providing clean
needles nationwide - no questions asked - could help save hundreds of
millions of dollars in medical costs and prevent the spread of the
disease to thousands of people in the drug-using community and beyond.

"Maybe this is a start to getting me on the right path again," said
Jones, 43, who lives on the street and in Atlantic City homeless shelters.

"I know I've been going the wrong way in my life, but I need to stay
as healthy as I can while I make my way to getting things right," he said.

Oasis, where Jones has obtained needles since Nov. 27, is run by the
South Jersey AIDS Alliance, which offers free HIV testing and
counseling, drug-treatment referrals, AIDS education and other services.

Needle-exchange programs remain controversial. Critics say they
appear to condone, or even promote, illegal drug use. In public
health circles, however, they are considered invaluable in preventing
transmission of hepatitis and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

New Jersey became the nation's last state to institute a
needle-exchange program when Gov. Corzine signed the measure into law
last year, according to Roseanne Scotti, director of the Drug Policy
Alliance of New Jersey.

Camden is scheduled to begin its program next month, with Newark and
Paterson to follow this winter, Scotti said.

The need is great, she said. New Jersey ranks fifth in the nation in
total number of reported adult HIV cases, third in pediatric HIV
cases. And it has the highest proportion of women infected with HIV
in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Proponents of New Jersey's exchange program say an estimated 45
percent of all new HIV cases reported in the state involve infection
caused by drug users sharing contaminated syringes.

A 2003 article in the medical journal the Lancet estimated that of
new HIV infections among intravenous drug users in the United States
between 1997 and 2000, as many as 11,000 could have been prevented
with a federal needle-exchange program, saving the government more
than $600 million in health-care costs.

Underground programs have operated for years in urban centers such as
Atlantic City, Newark and New Brunswick. Health workers have serviced
addicts by going into "shooting galleries" and crack houses and
handing out "works" bags that contain syringes along with other items
utilized by drug users.

"Establishing a legal program like this is something that we've
really been advocating for years," said Ronald Cash, director of
Health and Human Services for Atlantic City.

Though his department administers the Atlantic City program, the
South Jersey AIDS Alliance was chosen to run it at its Oasis center,
within the shadow of the towering casinos, because the place had the
respect of the community, Cash said.

"When people come in here, they need to feel they can trust us and
that they aren't going to be arrested when they walk out the door,"
said Georgett Watson, program director of the alliance.

The exchange policy went into effect without protests. And Atlantic
City police are behind it, said Gene Brunner, HIV program coordinator
for the city, because it reduces the odds they will be exposed to HIV
infection in their work.

In the first 3 1/2 weeks of the program, Watson said that 90 clients
were given 11 clean needles for every used one they brought in.

"The law is written so that it's one clean needle for every needle
brought in, plus 10 more clean needles" to discourage the need to
share used syringes, Watson said.

Before the needles are distributed, Watson said, staff members
briefly interview participants about their drug use and counsel them
on the availability of treatment programs and other services.

Those in the program have their choice of different types of needles,
plus small metal "cookers," sterile cotton swabs, and sanitizing
wipes. They are also given sealable "sharps" containers for disposing
of the needles safely.

Many seem to want help, Watson said.

"We've had two cases so far where someone who came in to exchange
their needles have entered treatment programs," Watson said.

John Tan, who works in an Asian restaurant down the block from Oasis,
said news of the needle-exchange location in his neighborhood didn't
worry him. Besides Oasis, the neighborhood is home to a methadone
clinic at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Roman Catholic Church.

"I don't necessarily think it will bring more drug addicts to the
neighborhood," Tan said. "I think if it is one more tool that serves
the community to keep people safe, then it's a good thing."