Pubdate: Tue, 18 Apr 2006
Source: Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ)
Copyright: 2006 Newark Morning Ledger Co
Contact:  http://www.nj.com/starledger/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/424
Author: Jeff Whelan And Josh Margolin
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

STALLING ON TWO SENSITIVE BILLS ANGERS CORZINE

Governor Vows To Push Lawmakers For Needle-Swap And Stem Cell Laws

Frustrated by a deadlock in the Legislature, Gov. Jon Corzine vowed 
yesterday to use the bully pulpit of his office to push through 
controversial measures to legalize needle exchanges for drug users 
and to boost stem cell research.

Corzine said he had hoped both initiatives would be enacted by now 
but that each has stalled because "the legislative process has the 
ability to tie it up in knots."

The governor called it "unconscionable" that New Jersey leaders have 
"sat on our hands," failing to establish a program to give 
intravenous drug users access to clean needles to help prevent the 
spread of the AIDS virus. Delaware is the only other state that 
prohibits both the sale of syringes and their distribution through 
needle exchanges.

Corzine also criticized inaction on legislation to invest up to $250 
million in stem cell research. He said the delay would hurt New 
Jersey's efforts to become a leader in the research as Maryland and 
other states push forward.

He said legislative maneuvering has intertwined the stem cell bill's 
fate with that of the needle exchange program.

"Stem cell needs to happen and needle exchange needs to happen for 
substantive reasons," Corzine said in an interview yesterday. He said 
he will seek to bring public pressure on the Legislature, controlled 
by his fellow Democrats, to enact the needle exchange legislation in 
order to jump-start both measures.

"This really needs to get moved up in the agenda. I'm going to start 
talking about the issue over and over again," the governor said.

New Jersey has the fifth-highest rate of HIV infection in the 
country, and more than half its cases can be linked to injection drug 
use. Advocates have pushed to legalize needle exchanges for years, 
but opponents, notably state Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark), argue the 
program would encourage addiction and perpetuate urban poverty. The 
measure passed the Assembly in the last legislative session but 
stalled in the Senate.

That has frustrated Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), one 
of the measure's key proponents.

"The days of allowing one senator to block progress on this issue ... 
needs to end," Roberts said yesterday.

Rice, who is running for mayor of Newark, did not return calls for comment.

According to two administration officials and another high-ranking 
Democrat, Roberts has refused to allow further Assembly action on 
stem cell research until the Senate moves on the needle exchange bill.

In response, Roberts would say only he is hopeful the Legislature 
will approve both measures in voting sessions next month.

"I think it's important to address both of those issues. Stem cell 
research is about the promise of saving lives tomorrow, and access to 
clean needles is about saving lives today," Roberts said. "No one is 
going to put this (needle exchange) bill in their campaign brochure 
because this got passed, but there are times when you have to do the 
right thing because it's the right thing."

In contrast, Democrats have used stem cell research as a campaign 
issue, and Corzine made it a cornerstone of his platform in last 
year's governor's race. Still, the matter has been controversial 
because much of the research involves stem cells taken from human 
embryos. The resulting destruction of embryos is immoral, say some 
critics of the research. Others question the spending in tight budget times.

Plans call for the state to build a $150 million Stem Cell Research 
Institute on the Rutgers University campus in New Brunswick; a $50 
million biomedical research facility at Rutgers in Camden as a joint 
venture with the Coriell Institute for Medical Research; and a $50 
million laboratory at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 
Newark. The money would come from the previously authorized sale of 
bonds to be repaid from cigarette tax revenue. The Senate and 
Assembly still would have to iron out differences in competing bills.

By tying the needle exchange bill to the stem cell funding, Roberts 
also is hitching one of Senate President Richard Codey's (D-Essex) 
biggest priorities.

Codey supports the needle exchange plan, although he hasn't picked a 
fight with Rice over it.

Asked yesterday about Corzine's renewed effort on that issue, Codey 
said: "There's nothing wrong with fighting for what you believe in. 
It's fine with me."

The needle exchange controversy has stymied dozens of appointments of 
Essex County residents to state boards and commissions since last 
fall. Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex) has invoked the unwritten rule of 
"senatorial courtesy" to block all gubernatorial appointments of 
Essex residents until there is a vote on the Senate floor to legalize 
needle exchange.

"With Governor Corzine's leadership, we will be able to let it out of 
committee and have a full and fair debate on it," Gill said. "This is 
a fight that has continued for more than a decade."

John Tomicki, executive director of the League of American Families, 
said yesterday there is "no good medical evidence to show that 
(needle exchanges) will reduce in any way, shape or form drug 
addiction or medical abuse." His organization also opposes embryonic 
stem cell research.

Tomicki added of Corzine, "He's pursuing a ridiculous political 
agenda and he is not following good health care that will lead to 
saving lives."

Marie Tasy of New Jersey Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, said: 
"All of these programs are being cut and the taxes are being raised 
at the same time he is pursuing research that is immoral, 
impractical, unproven and unethical."

Staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed to this report. Jeff Whelan 
and Josh Margolin cover state government and politics.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman