Research May Quell Needle-Exchange Critics Programs Don’t Promote Drug Use, Official Says, And Public Should Know

Research shows that needle-exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS do not promote drug use. This must be brought home to the public, a state health official says.

“Nobody wants to encourage drug-using behavior, and the science tells us these programs don’t do that,” said Mariella Cummings, director of infectious disease and reproductive health in the state Department of Health.

“For many people, their intuition tells them otherwise. We have to get the facts out to them” and educate them, she said.

Spokane’s needle-exchange program started in 1991 in a storefront on West First Avenue. The AIDS prevention program went mobile in 1993 to try to provide drug users with clean syringes and condoms.

A new study released Tuesday said the needle-exchange programs coupled with a number of other programs is the best way to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS among injection-drug users.

The study, which focused on Washington state and Massachusetts, was conducted by the Washington D.C.-based Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, made up of the top health officer from each state and territory.

Since other researchers have demonstrated that needle-exchange programs work, this study seeks to explain the role that state health departments can play and show health directors in other states what worked and what didn’t, said coordinator Patrick Flaherty.

“Needle exchange by itself is not going to solve all the problems, but it’s a critical component,” he said.

Also of value are substance-abuse treatment, outreach to at-risk populations such as prostitutes, HIV counseling, testing and primary care, and coordination among key players in treatment and prevention, the study said.

Washington state was chosen because it has a low-to-medium infection rate among injection-drug users, operates legal needle exchanges and has a progressive record of using state funds for prevention, Flaherty said.

Tacoma became the first city in the United States to begin a needle-exchange program in 1988. Currently, 112 needle-exchange programs operate in 29 states and in Washington, D.C., up from 21 states in 1994, Flaherty said.

Both states in the study had to establish that their programs would work without increasing drug use and had to gain the support of their communities - particularly important for controversial programs such as needle exchanges.

Many complaints revolve around the role the exchanges play in the war against drugs.

Research has shown that, contrary to popular opinion, needle-exchanges neither cause non-users to start injecting drugs nor increase use among addicts.

A Pierce County Superior Court judge upheld a legal challenge in 1990 to Tacoma’s program, which has evolved from a van-based exchange to a handcart administered by outreach workers for two hours on weekdays to the present half-hour a day administered by outreach workers.

Businesses, elected officials and health workers - responding to complaints that it scared shoppers and attracted drug dealers - have been fighting about where to locate the downtown exchange.

A similar battle is being fought in Seattle. The Seattle-King County Department of Public Health adopted its needle-exchange program in 1989. Now, seven sites exchange needles and the health department is trying to address complaints that the downtown Seattle site attracts addicts.

According to the study, Washington state officials said they want to do more with needle-exchange programs and help people understand the benefits of making clean needles available to addicts.

To do this, key players need to work more closely when setting up programs in urban areas that may be targeted for renewal, the study said.

Cities need to find appropriate settings for sites, keeping in mind that neighborhoods change over time and that many people need to be involved in planning, the study said.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Associated Press Staff writer Kim Barker contributed to this report.