The Proposal for A Needle Exchange Program

          The proposal to implement a Needle Exchange Program (NEP) in New Jersey has been a controversial subject since 1993. Agencies, courts, lawyers and governors have all been overturning each others decisions. Notice in the timeline below that the program oscillates between being in effect and being declared illegal. New Jersey's officials need to stop arguing over this proposal so that needle exchange can begin to take effect, reducing the HIV rates among injection drug users.

The New Jersey Needle Exchange Program

Timeline of Events

• November 1986: Jon Parker, a former injection drug user (IDU), begins distributing needles in Massachusetts. First US distribution (Lane, 1993).
• April 1988: Dave Purchase starts first legal needle exchange program (NEP) in Tacoma, Washington (Lane, 1993).
• November 1988: First major NEPs begin in San Francisco, California and New York City, New York. In San Francisco, the program was tolerated but illegal. In New York, it was highly regulated and required a rehab visit (Lane, 1993).
• 1993: The New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on AIDS recommends a pilot-NEP without gubernatorial support (Livio, 2002).
• October 19, 2001: New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Bret Schundler and Jim McGreevey oppose NEPs and needle sale without a prescription (Seigel, 2001).
• February 7, 2002: Governor James McGreevey puts gubernatorial support behind NEP of The New Jersey Governor's Advisory Council on AIDS. The council implements a three year pilot program (Livio, 2002).
• April 14 and May 17, 2004: Atlantic City, NJ, is denied permission to begin the state’s first NEP. This was following confusion with NJ State Law that allows government agencies to distribute drug paraphernalia, but only to people with prescriptions. The same thing happens in Camden (Newsday, 2004).
• June 18, 2004: The Atlantic City City Council approves a mobile NEP plan to be operational by the fall. New Jersey Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz files a law suit to stop the plan. The NJ Lower Court declares it illegal (Curran, 2004).
• October 27, 2004: The NJ Governor McGreevey signs the legislation allowing NEPs in three cities (Santi, 2004).
• August 17, 2005: The NJ Appellate Court upholds the Lower Court’s decision that the NEP violates state drug and paraphernalia laws (Schwaneberg, 2005).
• January 30, 2006: NJ Governor Jon Corzine makes NEPs a priority for his administration. He states that he will use his executive power if the legislature does not act (Yahoo News, 2006).