Camden, N.J. Officials Table Needle Exchange Proposal

On Thursday night, Camden City Council put off a vote, pending further study, on whether to support a needle-exchange program aimed at preventing injection drug users (IDUs) from contracting HIV and other diseases from shared needles. The plan, which would require IDUs to turn in old needles before getting new ones, would be funded by grant money. IDUs would pick up their needles either at a facility run by the AIDS Coalition of South Jersey or from a van operated by the Camden Area Health Education Center.

The program is estimated to cost $70,000 per year. Advocates say the cost is about one-fourth the price of treating an HIV patient for life.

New Jersey had 62,752 HIV cases through last year, the fifth-highest number in the nation. More than half of those cases were transmitted through shared needles, according to state statistics.

Although the State Attorney General's Office recently said a proposed Atlantic City needle exchange would be illegal, city officials there said they still plan to move forward with their program. A spokesperson for Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said the prosecutor had contacted Camden officials about the illegality of their program. Drug-law reform advocates expect both proposals to end up in court.

Gov. James E. McGreevey has said he would support needle exchange only in hospital-based drug rehabilitation programs; no such programs exist or are planned in New Jersey.

Back to other news for June 11, 2004