Proposed bill allowing sale, possession of hypodermic needles harmful to children

The New Jersey Catholic Conference has issued an action alert to oppose legislation which would allow state residents to sell and possess hypodermic syringes and needles. The bipartisan bill, S-2794, was introduced Nov. 24 and is scheduled to be heard before the Senate Commerce Committee Dec. 4.

While the legislation states that the purpose of revising New Jersey statutes is to make these medical instruments more accessible to people seeking to protect their own health, the NJCC believes that "the underlying purpose of the change . . . is to permit needle exchange programs to take place for intravenous drug users."

The NJCC is especially concerned with how this legislation will affect young people, and has notified youth ministry and religious education directors, Catholic school superintendents and ALLIANCE coordinators throughout New Jersey to contact members of the Senate Commerce Committee and ask them to reject the bill.

In a Dec. 1 statement, the NJCC listed the following major considerations for its opposition to this legislation, particularly with respect to children:

1) The decriminalization of the possession and sale of hypodermic syringes and needles (i.e. the removal of their definition from the term "drug paraphernalia") paves the way for needle exchange programs for addicts in New Jersey. Such programs send a message of tolerance for intravenous drug use to children in both public and nonpublic schools.

2) The individuals who will be able to sell and purchase such syringes and needles will, in the future, be able to do so at established sites. These sites may be accessible through drug-free school zones. This raises concerns that the next step may be to provide lesser degrees of penalties for individuals who venture into these drug-free school zones as a result of their efforts to receive clean needles.

3) The NJCC has been involved extensively with treatment programs for individuals who have drug addictions. Although the goal is to eliminate the need for these programs by eliminating the threats opposed by such afflictions as HIV/AIDS, the NJCC believes that the government should mandate treatment programs if any needle exchange program is to be adopted. S-2794 will permit needle exchange programs to take place without any mandatory treatment programs.

A recent letter from Dr. George Corwell, the NJCC’s associate director for education, informs diocesan directors of youth ministry that the new legislation would be the basic step in permitting the distribution of clean needles to drug addicts in New Jersey.

"What message are we sending to our youth with this program?" he wrote. ". . . Obviously, there are a number of people who, while being well intentioned about the saving of lives, do not fully appreciate the full impact of this program. The New Jersey Catholic Conference would like to put ourselves out of business with respect to operating programs for AIDS victims (by eliminating the problem), but we do not feel that this is the way to do so."