A BOOST FOR CLEAN NEEDLES

EFFORTS TO prevent blood-borne diseases like AIDS and hepatitis C won a
significant victory Friday when the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled
unanimously that drug addicts enrolled in needle exchange programs cannot
be arrested for possession of syringes should they travel to a different
city. If the SJC had ruled otherwise, it would have severely undercut the
ability of needle exchange programs to reduce infection among addicts.

Unfortunately, only four communities - Boston, Cambridge, Provincetown, and
Northampton - operate pilot needle exchange programs. As a result, in a
city like New Bedford, 69 percent of all AIDS cases are attributable to
dirty needles, while the rate in Boston is just 29 percent, according to
the state Department of Public Health.

The law authorizing needle exchange programs called for them in as many as
10 municipalities. However, it gave local officials a veto over programs,
which has left many addicts with little or no access to clean needles.

Local officials' main objection to needle exchanges - that they encourage
drug abuse - has never been proven. In fact, according to the DPH, nearly
40 percent of program participants are referred to substance abuse
treatment and other services. Far from encouraging drug abuse, needle
exchanges are one way to reduce it. The Legislature should once again pass
the bill - vetoed by then-governor Paul Cellucci - that authorized the DPH
to set up programs where needed. Local officials could provide advice but
not veto them.

Exchanges are especially important in Massachusetts because it is one of
just a handful of states that still criminalize the possession of
hypodermic syringes. In addition to the needle exchange bill, the
Legislature should also back a bill, favored by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino,
that would make it possible to buy syringes without a prescription.

Both approaches to making clean needles more available are needed because
simple legalization of syringes does not bring drug users into contact with
the public health system, which offers access not just to addiction
treatment but also testing and counseling for AIDS and hepatitis C. Even if
addicts do not go immediately into drug treatment, clean needles and
counseling can keep them healthy until they do. ''We are playing for time
to keep people free from infection and get them into treatment,'' says Jean
McGuire of the state's AIDS bureau.

Thanks to the SJC, the state's four needle exchange programs can continue
extending this lifeline to drug users. But the state should be doing much
more to prevent these devastating diseases.