Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - December 9, 2006
Angela Delli Santi
Needle exchanges, which are up for votes in both houses, have long been advocated by medical and health experts as a common-sense approach to stemming the spread of HIV/AIDS, but condemned by a vocal minority as endorsing drug use.
New Jersey is the only state in the country without some type of needle access. Other states either have a needle exchange program or allow people to purchase syringes without a prescription.
The Legislature has considered allowing needle access programs at various times over the past 13 years. Previous proposals never got support from a majority of lawmakers, though, even as state after state approved similar measures and evidence mounted that needle access programs cut HIV/AIDS infections among drug abusers and their partners and children.
The rate of HIV infection related to sharing contaminated needles in New Jersey is twice the national average, according to the Drug Policy Alliance, a national group advocating drug policies based on science and human rights.
"This has been a tragedy for New Jersey," said Drug Policy Alliance's state director Roseanne Scotti. She said thousands of New Jerseyans could have been spared from HIV and AIDS had the state made it legal to provide needles to intravenous drug users more than a decade ago.
The bill authorizes pilot needle exchange programs to be set up in six municipalities that want them and allocates $10 million for drug treatment.
Sen. President Richard Codey is among those who believe the current bill - with its drug treatment appropriation - is more palatable to lawmakers than previous versions. Still, Codey said he has been lobbying to secure the 21 Senate votes it needs for passage.
"I think it will pass, but it will be close," Codey said.
The Assembly passed a needle exchange bill two years ago, but the measure got bogged down in a Senate committee and never made it to the Senate floor, largely because of Sen. Ronald Rice, a vehement opponent.
"I'm going to continue to oppose the bill because we shouldn't be giving out free needles," said Rice of the current legislation.
The Newark Democrat said Friday he would propose removing needle exchanges from the bill and have lawmakers vote on the $10 million drug treatment provision.
Support for the needle exchange bill is widespread among the medical, health and minority communities, including the state Health Department, the federal Centers for Disease Control and state Black Ministers Council.
Rice, however, continues to dispute research cited by those groups showing that the number of HIV/AIDS infections decrease in cities that provide clean needle access, and that drug abuse does not increase in those cities.
"It's not scientifically proven," said Rice, who says the research is flawed because it relies on self-reporting.
The Rev. Reginald Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers' Council, is among those who believe that Rice's opposition has harmed the minority community.
"The overwhelming majority of African Americans support needle exchanges," said Jackson. "The senator is misinformed about where African Americans are on this issue as well as on the effectiveness on needle exchange."
More than 30,000 New Jerseyans have died from AIDS, and 45 percent of the state's infections stem from contaminated syringes. Of the more than 33,000 HIV/AIDS patients across the state as of midyear, a disproportionate 78 percent were minorities, according to Health Department estimates.
The Assembly will vote on a second needle access bill, to allow the nonprescription sale of syringes at drug stores. The Senate version of that measure is stalled in the health committee.
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