By Tom Duggan

The cities of Massachusetts would be forced to allow the distribution of free hypodermic needles in their communities under a bill that was passed by the House as we were going to press.

The Senate had approved the proposal by a vote of 21-18 after it was introduced as a budget amendment during the end of a lengthy budget debate.

Gov. Cellucci had said he will probably veto the measure.

"This program doesn’t help my city," said Rep. Jose Santiago from Lawrence. "The people in poor communities like Lawrence must have the right to decide what goes on in our neighborhoods. This will encourage drug use with taxpayer money. It’s not the answer to our problems. It will not prevent the spread of AIDS. We need to educate people to the dangers of drugs, not promote those drugs by providing the tools to consume them.

"If the state provides free needles for illegal drug use, we will share in the responsibility when those needles are shared and linked to deaths, overdoses, and the transmission of deadly diseases. This program is targeted at Lawrence and other poor cities, and I will do everything in my power to stop it at the legislative level."

Local officials in Springfield, Worcester and Lawrence have voiced their opposition to the program, saying the free needles are being forced down their throats in violation of their right to local control.

The one who persuaded the legislature to approve the program was Methuen State Senator and former Massachusetts State Trooper James Jajuga. He has been fighting for more than nine years to distribute taxpayer-funded hypodermic needles for addicts and drug users. His claim is that the AIDS epidemic will be slowed by the program.

Previous attempts by the Senator failed when local authorities opposed the distribution in their cities and towns. This year, however, Jajuga wrote the current bill to make sure that local control is taken away from municipal authorities. The law will give the decision of needle exchange locations exclusively to the State Commissioner of Public Health.

At least four communities voluntarily distribute free needles to drug users at the local level: Boston, Northampton, Provincetown and Cambridge.

Boston State Sen. Stephen Lynch spoke against Jajuga’s latest proposal even though he currently has a needle exchange program in his own district. Lynch told his colleagues that he opposed the current measure because it violated local control and took the decision-making authority away from individual cities and towns. Lynch said that free needles only work when supported by the community where they are given.

But Jajuga has said that distributing free needles with taxpayer money, even against their will, was the only way to reduce the transmission of AIDS among heroin and other drug users. There is no measure in the current bill which would guarantee the state-funded needles would not be shared by infected users once the state gives them away.

There is no provision in the bill which addresses the liability of the Commonwealth if those needles are found in the hands of children, are shared by users, cause death or result in debilitating illnesses.

Massachusetts AIDS statistics show Lynn, Lawrence, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester have the highest rates of infection in the state.

Gov. Paul Cellucci has said he will probably veto the bill despite his strong support for free needle exchange programs in Massachusetts.

"The Governor has not been supportive of a statewide budget amendment for a needle exchange program. We do offer assistance through the Department of Public Health for many cities and towns that wish to do it on their own because the Governor is in favor of local control. This bill violates local control and the Governor will not be supporting it," said Shawn Feddeman of the Governor’s office.

If Cellucci vetoes the needle exchange budget amendment, the Legislature can override that veto by a two-thirds majority.
 

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