Assemblywoman Nellie Pou

POU: NEEDLE EXCHANGE MEASURE MUST ADVANCE
Assemblywoman Makes World AIDS Day Vow
To Remove Last-in-Nation Status for New Jersey on Syringe Access Issue

(TRENTON) -- Using World AIDS Day to emphasize the need to change New Jersey's dubious status as the nation's laggard on syringe access policies, Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nellie Pou today said legislation authorizing a pilot needle exchange program in the state will be a priority consideration for her panel on Monday."The HIV/AIDS statistics for New Jersey cry out that this state can no longer afford to be the only state in the country that continues to prohibit needle exchanges or some other legal means of acquiring syringes without a prescription," said Pou (D-Passaic). "In the interest of protecting public health and people's lives, New Jersey must change its syringe access laws without further delay."

The Assembly Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider legislation -- "Bloodborne Disease Harm Reduction Act" (A-1852) -- to create a needle exchange demonstration program in New Jersey. The committee meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, in State House Annex Committee Room 4.

Pou said she will push for release of the bill so that it could be in a position for an Assembly floor vote by next week and a potential gubernatorial signature into law before the end of the year. Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., (D-Camden), who has led efforts to overhaul New Jersey’s outdated syringe access laws for the past two legislative sessions, has made the legislation a priority for Assembly fall agenda.

The use of dirty needles among intravenous drug users is cited as a leading cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C in New Jersey.

The states of Massachusetts and Delaware both took steps earlier this year to make sterile syringes more readily available to their citizens in an effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. The actions by those states now leave New Jersey as the only state in the nation that continues to cling to overly restrictive laws regarding hypodermic.

"We are behind the curve," said Pou.

The Assemblywoman noted that statistics from the Kaiser Family Foundation show New Jersey ranks among the top five states in three HIV/AIDS categories: number of residents living with such infections, annual numbers of new infections, and rates of infections for women.

She said the body of research shows that needle exchange systems help curtail the spread of disease and do not contribute to increased drug use -- a myth that has been debunked in other states.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the United States Conference of Mayors have all found sterile syringe access programs to be effective in reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS.

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For Release:
December 1, 2006

Assemblywoman Nellie Pou
Appropriations Committee Chair
(973) 247-1555