just out V O cto b e r 17. 1997 V 15
A M E R I C A ’S G R E A T E S T M U S I C A L E V E R !
The B est S c o r e • The B est D ancing • The B est Story
The musical by which
all others are measured
Trading for safety
A pioneering local needle-exchange program
is still going strongy no thanks to the federal ban
▼
by Inga Sorensen
ovem ber will mark the eighth anni­
versary of one o f the country’s first
needle-exchange programs.
N
throughout the nation gathered in W ashington,
D.C., on Sept. 17 to urge HHS Secretary Donna
Shalala to lift the ban on federal funding.
Six days earlier, the House of Representatives
had passed an amendment that would prevent the
use o f federal funds for needle-exchange pro­
grams, despite the fact that many influential orga­
nizations support such efforts.
In July, the American M edical Association
endorsed needle-exchange programs, joining such
groups as the American Public Health Associa­
tion, the Association of State and Territorial Health
Officials, the National Academy o f Sciences, the
National Alliance o f State and Territorial AIDS
Directors, the National Black Caucus o f State
Legislators and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The American Bar Association endorsed needle-
exchange programs in August.
Amelia Moore, who until recently coordi-
Outside In, a private social ser­
vice agency headquartered at 1236
SW Salmon St. in Portland, has been combating
the spread of HI V via a needle-exchange program
it has operated since Novem ber 1989.
At the time, there were only six legal needle-
exchange programs in the nation, and none in
Oregon.
Initially funded through a grant from the
American Foundation for AIDS Research, the
program was designed to test whether the spread
of HIV among injection drug users could be
stymied if they were provided with clean needles.
The program, which is open to people 18 and
older, allows participants to exchange used drug
syringes for clean ones without charge. They also
receive a kit containing bleach,
cotton, alcohol swabs, rinse
water, condoms and informa­
tion about HIV transmission
and drug treatment options.
According to a 1990 Or­
egonian article, when Kathy
Oliver, the agency’s execu­
tive director, “first proposed
the program in June 1988, it
would have been the first o f its
kind in the U nited States.
[However] before Outside In
could start its operation, simi­
lar p ro g ram s w ere begun
in ...N e w Y o rk , S e a ttle ,
Tacom a, Wash., and Boulder,
Colo.”
The article says the agency
“initially had problems find­
ing an insurance company to
handle the p ro g ram , then
found a carrier and received a
$35,000 grant from M ult­
nomah County to pay for it.”
T h e c o u n ty a lso gave
$ 15,000 to help with research
costs, and the remainder of the
program was paid for via the
$67,000 AmFAR grant.
Despite a funding scare in
the early years the program
still stands, thanks to funding
prim arily from M ultnom ah
County and, to a much smaller
degree, the City o f Portland
Tia Plympton staffing needle-exchange at Outside In
and private donations.
Current law says federal
nated Outside In’s program, says the agency’s
funds may not be used for
needle return rate surpasses 100 percent. For
needle-exchange programs unless the federal
example, she says in March alone, the agency
Department o f Health and Human Services gives
received 14,000 syringes, while issuing 13,000.
the green light, which it has not done.
As for lifting the federal ban, Moore says the
According to an Oct. 8 report from The Asso­
additional funds could provide much-needed dol­
ciated Press, several o f President C linton’s AIDS
lars for kit materials, as well as the ability to
advisers say they are considering resigning to
extend the program ’s hours to include nights and
protest the W hite H ouse’s refusal to spend federal
weekends.
money on needle-exchange programs.
Outside In offers needle exchanges Monday
Leading the protest is Robert Fogel, a Chicago
through Friday from 3 to 6 pm at its Southwest
lawyer and Clinton fund-raiser who sits on the 30-
Salmon location; on Monday, W ednesday and
member Presidential Advisory Council on AIDS.
Friday from noon to 2 pm exchanges occur at
“Somebody up there is thinking more about
North Killingsworth Avenue and Martin Luther
politics than health,” Fogel told the AP. “If they’re
King Jr. Boulevard, directly behind Mid-K Beauty.
not going to listen to us and do the right thing, I for
For more inform ation, contact O utside In at
one, and a number o f other people on the council,
223-4121.
can’t think of any more excuses or apologies to
give on this subject.”
M eanwhile, more than 500 protesters from
rsii
Based on a conception of Jerome Robbins
^ A R T H U R LAURENTS
-LEONARD BERNSTEIN - -STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Entre O norai Production Drected and Choreographed By
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SWH0B1W
Featuring a Cast of 45 Performers including Full Orchestra!
40th Anniversary • National Tour
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