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On
Polling
Numbers
and
Syringe
Exchange
in
New
Jersey
7/2/98
A poll conducted this week by the Gannett News, publisher of five New Jersey daily newspapers, reached interesting, if seemingly contradictory opinions on syringe exchange in the Garden State (where it is still illegal.) When asked if they favored "supplying addicts with clean needles," 53% of the 653 respondents were opposed, while 34% were in favor. But when the same people were asked, in the same poll, if they would support "needle exchange if it would reduce the spread of AIDS," 62% replied that they would. Dawn Day, director of the Dogwood Center in Princeton, New Jersey, told The Week Online, "These numbers replicate what we have seen again and again. When couched in terms of slowing the spread of AIDS -- and there's simply no doubt that syringe exchange does so -- clear majorities, over 60% of nearly every poll, support the implementation of syringe exchange." Diana McCague, Coordinator of the New Jersey Harm reduction Coalition and director of the Chai Project Syringe Exchange told The Week Online, "I'm not the least bit surprised at these results. They clearly reflect the fact that when you give people the facts -- that syringe exchange reduces the spread of AIDS and HIV -- the majority are in favor. This is also reflective of the advocacy that we've been doing in this state for the past several years. It's time for Governor Whitman, along with New Jersey legislators, to pay attention. New Jersey has one of the highest rates of injection-related HIV and AIDS in the country. These people were elected to represent the people of this state, and when it comes to the enormous problem of injection-related AIDS in New Jersey, it's time that they started representing."
-- END --
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Issue #48, 7/2/98
Join the DRCNet Thousand | Point and Click for Drug Policy Reform | US, UK Plan Biological Warfare in Opium-Producing Nations | Canadian Doctors Call for Opiate Maintenance, but Attorney General Cites "Bad Message" | Treatment-Resistant AIDS Spreading, Bolstering Case for Syringe Exchange | On Polling Numbers and Syringe Exchange in New Jersey | FDA Orders Books Destroyed | Crop Eradication Leaves Lebanon Peasants Hungry | News Briefs | Orlando, FL: Statewide Medical Marijuana Conference 25-Jul | Washington State Medical Marijuana Initiative Submits Signatures | Independence Day for KY Farmers: University of Kentucky to Release Hemp Research | Editorial: Who's a Fraud?
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