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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (March 20, 1998)
a j u s t a i t ’ march 2Û. 1998 i M U h 'i n m n e w s WE'RE PACKIN' UP & MOVING! A M atter of L ife Aher 22 years With promising new statistics, needle-exchange activists are hoping federal officials will finally get the point by Bob Roehr downtown A is relocating to its warehouse space at 1211 NW 17th. Visit our downtown store at 9th & Burnside now & save up to 50% or more! EASTER 1 New Thought A Time fo r Larger Life Church owiedion Sundays 10:00 a.m. (503) 643-7591 B eaverton A s 9 w < * % 3 p- Murray Blvd. IS \ ►a I Regency Heights Club House Rev. Casey Chaney Rev. Berdell Moffett Licensed, Ordained M inisters Easter is about resurrection — SEE US FOR ALL YOUR COLLISION REPAIR NEEDS Sunday messages this month will focus on renewing forgotten friendships, reigniting abandoned talents, and reawakening dormant dreams. Join us! March April Easter Sunday Getting Thee Behind Me The Wit & Wisdom of Pontius Pilate Those Who Would Be Master Living The Larger Life I * vGP# f 1 ed 1.7 million needles have been exchanged with approximately 7,000 clients. During the briefing, Beilenson said there has been a decrease in discarded needles in the areas health officials serve, a reduction in the amount of drug use among clients, and a 40 percent reduction in the seroconversion rate. He said the program has also acted as a “bridge to treatment” for 1,000 clients, 80 per cent of whom have been with the program for four months. That period is used as a benchmark of success; most dropouts occur during the first three months. T h e program costs $300,000. A nother $300,000 is budgeted for reserved substance- abuse treatment slots. Beilenson said he believes that “federal funding would allow for more pro fessionally run programs” throughout the coun try. Des Jarlais, meanwhile, noted that Britain’s former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a conservative, initiated a nee dle-exchange program in the o late 1980s. As a result, he said, that country essentially has no HIV within its injec tion drug user population. “You can send a message that you are both against drug use and HIV,” he con cluded. In the United States, the federal secretary of health and human services has the authority to certify that needle-exchange programs are effective in stopping the spread of HIV. But Donna Shalala has chosen not to use that authority. Last fall, Congress ffoze federal funding for those pro grams until April 1, and instructed Shalala to prepare guidelines regarding the operation of such programs. Regina Aragon, of the Baltimore city health commissioner Peter Beilenson San Francisco A ID S the continuing epidemic in the United States.” Foundation, said there have been discussions He then explained why needle-exchange within HHS, but it remains unclear where programs appear to work. First, he said, partici administration officials stand on the matter. pants are motivated by the fact that A ID S is an Some exchange advocates are, however, extremely unpleasant way to die. Second, HIV encouraged by movement they see on the issue can be passed on to users’ loved ones, which may in Congress. give participants additional cause for concern. T h e chairs o f the Congressional Black Finally, he pointed out that “a clean needle Caucus and the Hispanic Caucus sent a letter to works better than a dirty needle." Shalala on Feb. 9 urging her to lift the ban. As Baltimore’s city health commissioner, Dr. Minorities are disproportionately affected by Peter Beilenson supervises a large government- HIV, particularly through injection drug use. run needle-exchange program. Each needle is House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt bar coded, so health authorities can track who (D-M o.) sent a similar letter to Shalala on Feb. receives it and how it comes back. An estimat 17. t least 10,000 new HIV infec tions a year may be prevented by implementing sound needle- exchange programs in the United States. That was the core message of a Feb. 24 briefing for Capitol Hill staffers that was sponsored by the American Public Health Association. Harry Simpson, an intravenous drug user for 15 years, is now director of an exchange program in Detroit. “Needle-exchange services keep drug users alive until they can decide to take a differ ent path,” he told listeners. “Live addicts can— and do— recover. Dead addicts do not.” “Approximately 70 percent of all new HIV infections in the United States can be tied directly to the sharing of needles,” added Dr. Don Des Jarlais, director of research at the Chemical Dependency Institute of Beth Israel Hospital in New York City. “Clearly this mode of HIV transmission is the dominant force for •2454 E. BURN SIDE • PORTLAN D, O R 97214 Family Oumed & Operated Since 1952 M * M # « * V V * ' * ' Vi M I K i W <V g o l d CLA SS i W Ö » r * / * V i I i W/ V »>Vu'. V V '