PATERSON OKs PROGRAM

"When politics trumps science, people die."

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Washington, Letter to the Editor, Herald News, May 17, 2007

Fortunately for the city of Paterson, on Tuesday night science,
medical research and common human decency trumped politics. In the
long run, this means that hundreds, perhaps thousands of people who
might otherwise be condemned to the awful fate of living with the HIV
virus or perhaps dying from full-blown AIDS, get a new lease on life.

The letter writer quoted above was writing in response to political
resistance in the city of Passaic to a possible needle-exchange
program. Last month, political calculation caused the Passaic council
to blunt an effort to bring needle exchange to the city.

Not so in Paterson. On Tuesday evening the council adopted an
ordinance -- on a 5-3 vote, with one abstention -- to allow the city
to take part in the newly approved needle-exchange pilot program
coordinated by the state's Department of Health and Human Services.

That pilot program originated last fall when Gov. Jon S. Corzine and
state legislators sought to implement a needle-exchange program for
the state. At the time, New Jersey was one of the last states with
neither a needle-exchange program or one that allowed syringes to be
sold without prescriptions.

A wide range of private and public health studies have long shown that
allowing drug-users access to clean needles helps prevent the spread
of HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. Opponents,
including those who blocked Passaic's push for needle exchange, say
the program promotes illegal drug use and may in fact even attract
more drug addicts to the community.

This thinking has been debunked on the ground during the "drug war."
That war has raged hot and heavy in this nation for a quarter of a
century or more. It has led to thousands and thousands of arrests, law
upon law seeking to stem drug use. It has resulted mostly in more
violent crimes, more overextended law enforcement officers, and more
heavily overcrowded prisons.

Needle exchange is not a panacea, but it is a proven method of
containment. It is, at least, an alternative, and one that has been
effective in many urban areas across the country, especially in
fighting AIDS. Saving the life of the addict is one thing; saving the
life of that person's sexual partner or potential offspring is another.

If clean needle exchange is needed anywhere, it is Paterson. The most
recent statistics show the city has one of the highest rates of
HIV/AIDS in the state, with 3,880 residents as of last June. If the
state approves the city's grant, third-party health and HIV nonprofit
groups would administer the needle exchange.

Like any of the various 12 steps in programs that alcoholics and drug
addicts attempt in order to get themselves clean, needle exchange can
be one positive step for Paterson. It might well prevent a wholesale
explosion of HIV/AIDS cases in the city. And it will almost certainly
save lives.