THE BOSTON HERALD

Monday, August

BOM FEDER.

 

12, 1991

 

The real r
of needle exchange —

amn all national com-

missions, presidential

panels, advisory task

Peet ney nee taunts of au-
gust idiocy.

Such bodies are efght-cy-

linder vehicles for academic

funding and faster than Pee
Wee Herman can expose him-
self to ridicule they'll cook up.

The National Commission. - .

on AIDS. wants to fight the
infection among addicts by
handing out clean hypoder-
‘mic needles. The excase for
ite recommendation is the
just-released preliminary re-
_port of the City of New Haven
""Needlé Exchange Progrem.-
which claims prodigious pro-

gress.

It touts a 40 percent reten-
tion rate among participants,
but is rather vague in defin-
ing the term, which scems to
include anyone who visited a2
distribution center mrore than
once, even if the visits were
months apart.

— In:e British study, by the
tenth visit there was an 8&8
percent drop-out rate. By the
20th, the rate rose to $5 per-
cent. Of the remaining five

sharing needles to begin with.
. The New Haven study

_ boasts a 33 percent reductian,

over sever Thootts, cf RIV in-
fection among addicts im the
program. The ogure was ar-

Tived arby a complicated for--

National commissions:

 

ressage

is ‘Say yes to drugs’

addicts “know they could die

in the next 20 minutes from a.

heart attack, stroke or over
dose and yet we expect them
to take precautions against a
disease [AIDS] which wiil kil]
them in seven years.” More-

-_ -aver, “even if they were in-

clined to take precautions

. when stone-cold sober, their

food rescive is unlikely to
contime when they're high”

The plan could lead te a
false sense of security. Nee-
dies aren't the anly source af

‘to filter heroin has essential-
ly the same effect,

The availability of neediés
isn't even &. factar in sharing.
(Es there less in the 33 states
where they're available over
the counter?) Studies show

sharing increases with the in-.

cidence o£. depression, which
makes users lexs inclined -to
be carrtious,

Then there's the downsi-
de“AIDS. is = fatal disease.
but so ig drug abuse. Any ac-
tivity that makes it easier to
use drugs is dangerous.”
Kleber comments. .

‘Everything government
does sends a message. Gov-

——m =

ernmental ‘action is Western
Union on & grand scale. You
can’t teil me that plying 15-
year-old boys with condoms
tm the public schools doesn't
fmply social sanction of
adolescent sex. “That's all
right, dear. We know you're

. going to do it-anyway (al-
though ~wine nuase —- we
ceally wish you wouliat}.
Just be safe.”

For the past decade, we've
been screaming “just say no”
at-the top of our lungs, ahout-
ing-it from billboards, public
service announcements, and
arug etucaton trograms. 4

’ Jegion of stars and sports fig-

effort. We fairly plead with
youth not to barbecue their

* bexins an a chemical brazier.

r-:A. .— — ——- —— =e --—2

Page 21

 

 
 

 

The learned experts end
dedicated activists ignore 5o-
ciety’s long-range -obliga-
tions. In the mad rush to pro-
vide quick fix solutions to the
crisis of the hour. they forget
society's foremost fonction:
- te make judgments, to upbold

tioned by a naticnal commus-
i : »
Don Feder’s column sp-
gears each Monday and
Thursdey.