Needle exchange smooth in Atlantic City [Camden exchange update]

Needle exchange smooth in Atlantic City
PETE McALEER
Pressofatlanticcity.com
11/29/07


Atlantic City quietly began its first legal needle-exchange program Tuesday, becoming the first city in New Jersey to take part in a pilot program aimed at reducing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The first day of Atlantic City's needle-exchange program saw 20 people register and turn in used needles for clean ones at the Oasis Drop-In Center on South Tennessee Avenue, according to Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, an organization that lobbied for years for needle-exchange programs in New Jersey.

The Oasis center, operated by the South Jersey Aids Alliance, already provides free HIV counseling and testing, drug-treatment referrals and other social services. A methadone clinic is located across the street.

Those who registered Tuesday and Wednesday were given 10 clean needles plus one additional clean needle for every used needle they turned in. To register, participants answered basic demographic questions and questions about their history of HIV testing and drug treatment. They also were assigned an identification number, and after six months will be asked other questions, such as whether they are still sharing needles with others and whether they have sought drug addiction treatment.

"It was very smooth," Scotti said after witnessing the first day of needle exchange in Atlantic City. "There were no problems. There never are. But people were amazed, coming in and saying, 'They tell us we can get clean needles here.'"

The needle-exchange program will operate three days per week, from Tuesday to Thursday.

Atlantic City and three other municipalities - Camden, Newark and Paterson - were given the authority to distribute clean needles without a prescription under a December 2006 law signed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine. Camden is expected to start its program in January. Newark and Paterson expect to start soon after.

Atlantic City officials have been advocating the legalization of needle exchange for years, viewing the program as an important health tool in a city where one in 31 black males lives with HIV or AIDS. In June 2004, the City Council became the first governing body in the state to pass an ordinance approving needle-exchange programs, but the ordinance was struck down in court three months later.

"For years, the best evidence from around the world has told us this is what we should be doing to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, but our hands were tied," said Ronald Cash, Director of Health and Human Services for Atlantic City. "This year we truly have something to celebrate in New Jersey for World AIDS Day."

Newly appointed Atlantic City Mayor Scott Evans spoke generally Wednesday night about his support of the program, having not been briefed on it yet.

"I think it's a big issue that we can help combat with this program," he said. "It's a program we just have to monitor and keep an eye on and constantly reevaluate."

The Drug Policy Alliance of New Jersey continues to lobby for a law that would allow for the pharmaceutical sale of syringes without a prescription. New Jersey is one of only three states to require a prescription to purchase a syringe in a pharmacy.

Staff writer Michael Clark contributed to this report.

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'Bout time New Jersey gets up to speed with the rest of the country. Slow ass motherfuckers...

Beautiful. I been followin this for a long time. back when i worked in a newspaper, there was this raging cunt bitch that wrote in a wahh wahh boo hoo letter about this back when it was still not approved and was just in the beginning of gettin into motion. it was in 05. Well it was one of those "THE DEMON BEAST WILL INFECT OUR YOUTH WITH DRUGZ N AIDZ" and all that shit. total apocalypse from the needle exchange, crackheads robbin babies in the night, etc. Straight up, the kinda of uptight self righteous stuck up bitch you just want to deck in the face for her smugness. I took SO MUCH JOY in deleting that letter before it could ever see the light of day and makin sure it did not run in that paper, not then, not ever. me and my boss made fun of her alot.

But my point is, i love that even with "New Jersey Coalition For Safe Families" and bullshit "advocacy" groups like that, this shit is finally becomin civilized out here, and like you phrozen i think its about damn time. We got some of the highest HIV infection rates in the country and it made me sick that we couldnt get no relief when assbackwards places , bible belt places, rich snooty places, you could still walk into the store and buy a needle with no problems and were in general we are one of the more 'progressive' states when it comes to politics and etc. but yet still this was some bullshit taboo. So a big hell yea to all the people who made this happen and i hope it just gets better n improves the conditions out here in the dirty jerz.

Needle exchange program struggles in last state to adopt practice
GEOFF MULVIHILL
The Associated Press
2.23.08


CAMDEN, N.J. - New Jersey has become the last state where intravenous drug users can legally get clean needles, but two of the state's three needle exchanges are struggling to get clients.

An underlying problem is funding. While state authorized exchanges in 2006, it has not helped pay for them.

One program in Camden distributes needles out of the back of a blue van that sets up Tuesday afternoons on a gravel parking lot attached to an overgrown vacant lot, where bottles of all types, trash, condoms and clothing are strewn.

It operates in a desolate corner in the industrial Waterfront South section of city that is one of the nation's poorest. Officials say they would rather have addicts congregating there than in the more visible downtown area.

Traffic in the area consists largely of trucks headed to or from a nearby port. Most of the pedestrians are prostitutes, including some who are among about 15 clients at the needle exchange.

The health education center's motor home, where health workers draw blood for hepatitis tests, give instant HIV tests, and hand out snacks, blankets and condoms, is parked next to the van on Tuesday afternoons. Workers on both vehicles are trained to encourage clients to get regular HIV tests and tell them about treatment options. The state government did put $10 million toward drug treatment as part of the law that allowed needle exchanges.

But the state didn't fund the needle exchange programs, and that's making it difficult for them to reach addicts.

"All the programs in New Jersey are operating on a shoestring," said Roseanne Scotti, director of Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey.

New Jersey is believed to have tens of thousands of IV drug users; a 2004 study estimated there were as many as 23,400 in the Newark area alone. But only about 200 are enrolled so far in the three existing exchanges.

Advocates of the exchanges hope addicts who have easier access to needles won't be as likely to share them, and the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases will be slowed.

According to a 2005 report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, at least 43 percent of New Jersey's 48,000 reported HIV and AIDS cases were transmitted through needles; only Connecticut had a higher rate.

The New Jersey law passed in 2006 over heavy opposition and only after years of wrangling. Critics balk at the idea of needle exchanges, arguing they enable or encourage illegal activity and that they don't necessarily slow the spread of HIV.

It took nearly a year after the law was adopted before regulations were in place and exchanges could begin.

The Camden exchange is run by the Camden Area Health Education Center. Kim McCargo, who oversees the service, says that it would take $500,000 a year to run a program as expansive as she would like, with needles given out three days a week at locations around the city.

The health education center has managed to scrounge together about $85,000 in grants, enough for a once-a-week exchange, run by McCargo and volunteers.

Last week, one of the clients was a 48-year-old man named Mickey. The Camden resident said the exchange is a lot better than making the trip to Philadelphia to get needles , or getting them on the street , illegally , for $2 to $3 each.

"This is a good program. The only complaint I have is they should move it a little closer to town," said Mickey, a Camden resident who spoke on condition that his last name not be used because heroin possession is illegal. "I ain't a young boy."

McCargo says state guidelines call for giving addicts one clean needle for every used one they turn in , plus 10 more. But in practice, she says, she gives them as many as they think they need for the week.

She wouldn't mind if her clients gave some of their clean needles to friends who aren't in the program. The idea is to help people , even if they're not enrolled.

And getting people to come has been a challenge.

McCargo says the weather is one reason. Though it's been a mild winter in southern New Jersey, Tuesday afternoons have been marked by flurries, sleet and frozen raid. That's a major factor because so many of the addicts don't drive. Over a couple hours this Tuesday, only one client arrived by car; the rest walked.

McCargo welcomes media attention, figuring it spreads the word about the program and may bolster grant applications.

But in January, on the first day the program was running, a television newscast reporting about the exchange aired one woman's face. She was so upset she hasn't returned, said McCargo, who was hoping to get a friend of the woman to take her some needles.

At the needle exchange at the Well of Hope Drop-in Center in Paterson, director Jerome King says people there have been scared off because they saw a police car parked , by coincidence , nearby.

"People are still getting over the stigmas and some of the fears, not knowing if it's going to be a police trap," King said. "Once people feel safe, it will pick up." Under state law, people in the program are given identification cards that explain it is legal for them to have the needles.

In its first few weeks, King said, his center registered 20 users.

The one center exchange where business is brisker is in Atlantic City, where about 175 people have enrolled since November at the Oasis Drop-in Center, the first legal exchange program in the state.

"They've had people come in, in Atlantic City, who have never been to the drop-in center before," said the Drug Policy Alliance's Scotti. "You're reaching the hardest-to-reach people."

She says that the New Jersey needle exchanges are promising despite their modest starts. After 15 years of allowing exchanges, she pointed out, Pennsylvania has only two , one in Pittsburgh and one in Philadelphia.

New Jersey already has three. A fourth, in Newark, is expected to open soon, and there's some talk of starting exchanges in Elizabeth, Jersey City and Trenton.

Back at the Camden exchange, 41-year-old John Pruestel said he's been shooting drugs half his life. Mostly, the chatty Camden resident uses heroin and cocaine.

He appreciates the clean needles , and not just because they might keep him from contracting HIV. When he uses old ones repeatedly, he said, "sometimes, they're like nails," and tear up his arm.

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On the Net:

Camden Area Health Education Center: http://www.camden-ahec.org/

Oasis Drop-in Center, Atlantic City: http://www.southjerseyaidsalliance.org/oasis.html

Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey: http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/newjersey/

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