Sticky Business
In September, AIDS activist Diana McCague of the Chai Project, a program of harm reduction based in New Brunswick, New Jersey, was arrested for the second time and charged with distribution of syringes. The program's outreach van carrying safer-injection equipment was also confiscated. Her arrest took place in a state where the issue of needle exchange for HIV provokes fiery debate. An estimated 26,000 HIV infections have been linked to intravenous drug use in New Jersey, and the numbers continue to rise, an alarming figure that prompted activists like McCague to take action. Although McCague says a majority of New Jersey's Governor's Advisory Council on AIDS favors legal syringe exchange, Governor Christine Todd Whitman strongly opposes the idea.

In December, McCague was given a 90-day suspended sentence, a $750 fine, a six-month suspension of her driver's license, and 100 hours of community service, but she's not about to stop fighting. She also had some practical advice for others: "Anyone interested in delivering (needle exchange) services would do well not to let anyone know," she says matter-of-factly. Her mantra? "Keep organizing, keep the issue public, keep up the pressure."

-Cindra Feuer