NEEDLE SWAP PROGRAM SEEKS OFFICE

Other Services Still Will Be Conducted in Neighborhood

PEORIA - Organizers of a controversial needle exchange program are
looking for a facility from which to operate, now that the city has
put the skids on a street-based program.

"We're looking for an inexpensive room to rent for a couple of hours a
week," said Julie Pryde, who supervises the Lifeguard Harm Reduction
Services offered in Peoria by registered nurse Beth Wehrman.

"They've left us no choice. We're not going to break the law," said
Pryde of the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, referring to an
ordinance passed Tuesday by the City Council.

The ordinance prohibits the exchange of hypodermic syringes on city
streets, but allows it to be conducted in a non-residential building.

"The rest of it, the public health service, can still be done in the
neighborhoods," Pryde said, referring to the health education,
condoms, Hepatitis immunizations and HIV tests Wehrman also provides.

"The law (city ordinance) does not ban her from that, as I understand
it,' Pryde said. "We could have all worked it out without the
ordinance, but there was no discussion between the complaint and the
drafting of the ordinance."

Pryde is in the process of arranging a meeting in Peoria with
representatives from the city, local health department, Heart of
Illinois HIV/AIDS Center and the Chicago Recovery Alliance, among others.

Kate Van Beek, spokeswoman for the Peoria City/County Health
Department, said they are willing to collaborate with Pryde.

Wehrman began the needle exchange program about a year ago. It
operates legally under state law, which bans the possession of
hypodermic syringes, but exempts those engaged in pharmaceutical,
clinical or other scientific research.

She is contracted by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District and
also partners with the private Chicago Recovery Alliance which can
collect used needles in exchange for new ones under the research exemption.

The needle exchange program has elicited strong emotions by people on
both sides of the issue. While some still wish a street-based program
could continue, others say it enables drug usage.

Larry Rogers, who represents the AIDS program at the University of
Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, said public health programs
operate most effectively when they go directly to the source -
schools, nursing homes and the like.

He says needle exchanges also are most effective when outreach workers
are in the environment where drugs are being used - on the streets.

"It's really about (building) a human relationship. That is what moves
people to accept and deal with the problem," he said. "Can that be
done under a roof? It can. There are people you're not going to be
able to reach that way."

Finding a building at a location neighbors will accept also could be
difficult for Lifeguard, he said.

June Moore, president of Olde Towne South Neighborhood Association,
who led the charge for the city ordinance, said she is not opposed to
Wehrman operating within the confines of a building.

"If it's in a building in a controlled environment and it was
monitored with testing and counseling, we're all for it," she said.
"We know they need help, but it has to be done in a proper place and
manner."

Dr. John Gilligan, CEO of Fayette Companies in Peoria, which runs a
state-licensed drug treatment program, said the needle exchange
program is not effective.

"If it's just a giveaway program it's like sowing grass seeds and I
think there's just a lot of evidence that it (needle exchange
programs) causes more harm than it prevents the spread of blood-borne
diseases," said the clinical psychologist.

Gilligan says a structured needle exchange program carried out in a
controlled environment in conjunction with counseling could be
effective in encouraging drug abusers to give up their lifestyles.

At-large City Councilman Jim Ardis, who sponsored the city ordinance,
said he agrees with those who say the drug problems aren't gone when
the needle exchange program leaves an area.

"It's far from over," he said Thursday. "I think this was just one
more aggravating factor down there. There still are some major drug
distributions going on."

He sees enforcement as the answer to those problems.

"I think it's targeting specific areas and addressing those problems,"
Ardis said. "It's going to be a multi-pronged attack with the police
department and code enforcement."