Pubdate: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2002 Globe Newspaper Company Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52 Author: Robert Sharpe NEEDLE PROGRAMS SAVE LIVES The Massachusetts supreme judicial court did the right thing by ruling that people who receive clean syringes through a state-sanctioned needle exchange program in one community cannot be arrested for carrying them in another. Needle-exchange programs have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as bridge to drug treatment for a hard-to-reach population. Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the United States are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. In the interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope America's tough-on-drugs politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous collateral damage sooner rather than later. Robert Sharpe Program Officer Drug Policy Alliance Washington - --- MAP posted-by: Alex