Atlantic City, N.J., City Council Approves Needle-
Exchange Program
kaisernetwork.orgrep index.cfmOpen ↗
R_ID=24279
[Jun 18, 2004]
The Atlantic City, N.J., City Council on Wednesday
approved 7-1 a proposal to implement the state's first
needle-exchange program, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer
reports (Curran, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/17). The
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General in May said
that the proposed program does not have the legal
authority to operate. Atlantic City Health and Human
Services Director Ron Cash had discussed implementing
a needle-exchange program through city-run mobile
health clinics, saying that the city's authority to
begin such a program was based on a 1999 amendment
that exempts government agencies from a section of
state law that criminalizes needle and syringe
possession. However, state Attorney General Peter
Harvey (D) reviewed the law and determined that it
allows government agencies to distribute needles and
syringes only to people with prescriptions (Kaiser
Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/14). The council authorized
Atlantic City health officials to distribute syringes
to injection drug users to help curb the spread of
blood borne illnesses, including HIV and hepatitis C,
according to the AP/Inquirer. Cash said that the
program -- which will distribute needles through a van
that already provides medical services in the
community -- could be operational by the fall, the
AP/Inquirer reports.
Reaction Several supporters of the program say that because
one in every 40 people in the city is HIV-positive, there
should be a government initiative to prevent injection drug
users from sharing or reusing syringes, according to the
AP/Inquirer. City Council President Craig Callaway said,
"This is the moral, human and correct thing to do." Alison
McCray, a syringe-exchange program coordinator for
Prevention Point Philadelphia who attended the city council
vote, said that since Philadelphia launched its needle-
exchange program in 1991, HIV incidence in the city has
fallen dramatically, the AP/Inquirer reports. She added,
"It's a public health issue that affects the entire
population." However, some opponents say that the program
"encourag[es] or condon[es] high-risk behavior" among drug
users, according to the AP/Inquirer. Atlantic County
Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz and some state officials have said
they will take action to enforce the state's law prohibiting
needle distribution, the AP/Inquirer reports
(AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/17). New Jersey Gov. James
McGreevey (D) has said he supports needle-exchange programs
only in hospital-based settings (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS
Report, 6/14).
Provide by aids-hepatitisc.orgaids-hepatitisc.orgOpen ↗