The Christian thing to do

Sunday's Houston Chronicle featured an opinion piece on why allowing local options for setting up syringe exchange programs is the Christian thing to do. Author Dr. William Martin addresses the shift toward ministering to people with HIV/AIDS that has taken place within conservative Christian churches in recent years:

Then, in 2002, Franklin Graham hosted Prescription for Hope, a global conference attended by more than 800 Christians from many countries and denominations. PBS Frontline pointed to that gathering as the moment at which Christians got involved in confronting HIV/AIDS. Soon afterward, Rick (author of The Purpose Driven Life) and Kay Warren launched a major HIV/AIDS initiative. Today, many other churches, large and small, minister to people stricken with this disease. These ministries do not screen the people they serve to make sure they were infected through no fault of their own. They meet them at the point of their need and offer what help they can.

Then at the end of the piece Dr. Martin poses a compelling question:

How can we justify saying it is permissible, even laudable, to help people after they have contracted HIV/AIDS, but wrong to approve of measures that significantly reduce their chances of contracting that disease? Jesus had nothing to say about needles, but we do know how he treated social outcasts and sinners, and he had a great deal to say about people who let prim concern with their own righteousness interfere with offering needed assistance to those in peril.

In other news, last week the San Antonio Express-News editorial board again called on the Texas Legislature to "finally give Bexar County and other municipalities the ability to invest in a proven life-saving and cost-saving effort." The editorial also addresses common misconceptions about syringe exchange programs:

The great myth about needle exchange is that it subsidizes and encourages illegal drug use. In fact, the drug use is already taking place. Studies of needle-exchange programs around the nation demonstrate they do not increase illegal drug use.

Deuell's bill does not require communities to create needle-exchange programs. It simply gives them the option to do so.

Click here to read all four of the local option bills filed this session.

Needle-exchange program curbing disease: Sask. study

Our friends to the north released a study in February concerning needle exchange programs with positive results.

"A study released Tuesday suggests a provincially funded needle-exchange program is making a difference in Saskatchewan by sharply curbing disease.

The review, for the provincial Health Ministry, found that seven health regions have a needle-exchange program and an estimated four million needles are provided to Saskatchewan's 5,000 intravenous drug users each year.

The report concludes that the programs are meeting the goal of reducing the spread of disease.

It estimates that infections such as HIV and hepatitis C, which are expensive to treat, have been reduced in numbers by up to one-third among drug users, saving an estimated $4 million in health-care costs per year.

Despite the positive findings, the review notes there is room for improvement, especially in the area of needle returns and cleaning up discarded needles.

More

This supports much of what we said here a few weeks ago

Local options for HIV prevention

Did you know that a privately-funded charity worker who is trying to save lives can be arrested and incarcerated in Texas if their program includes exchanging clean syringes for dirty ones that might carry HIV or Hep C? 73-year old Chaplain Bill Day currently faces a year behind bars for his volunteer work in a program funded in part by his church.

Did you know that a county government or hospital district employee can be sent to jail in Texas if they carry out an HIV prevention program that has been proven to save lives and tax dollars, and is currently legal in every state except Texas?

Today our local governments and private charities have no options due to a state mandate that criminalizes the exchange of clean syringes for dirty ones.

Local options would be allowed by the HIV prevention bills authored by Senators Deuell, Van de Putte, Wentworth, West, Zaffirini and Hinojosa; and Representatives McClendon, Crabb, Ortiz, McCall, Rodriguez, Coleman, Naishtat, and Farrar. The bills would allow each local government in Texas to choose whether or not to allow these disease prevention programs in the local area, and to choose whether or not to use tax funds to pay for the programs. Several national charities would like to fund the programs privately without any tax dollars - but right now state law says "no."

When the United States government funds HIV prevention through syringe access, which President Obama has promised that it will do ... wouldn't it be tragic if Texas medical providers and charities were threatened with criminal prosecution by state government if they choose to utilize the funds to save lives?

Chairwoman Kolkhorst, Chair of the Texas House Public Health Committee (pictured above), will decide tomorrow whether or not to set these local options bills for a hearing next week.

Texas prosecutor supports disease prevention, "I'm all for making this country and world a better place to live."

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley isn't the EF Hutton of Texas criminal justice that he used to be. When he talks ... fewer and fewer people listen. When Mr. Bradley tried to rally opposition to HIV prevention through syringe exchange this month on the computer forum where he communicates with fellow prosecutors across the state, he was met with the sound of crickets. (He goes by "JB" on the forum.) It's been over a week and there is no indication that any of his colleagues read his post.

The last time Mr. Bradley tried to stir up the same hornet's nest, in 2007, no one stuck out their neck to agree with him and one Texas prosecutor respectfully but firmly disagreed. Here is their conversation:

quote:

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Originally posted by JB:
And next up are free cab rides for drunks at bars because of the high accident rate of drunks.

Is there a principle here for drawing a line and simply enforcing the law that is being broken?

---

I think the principal at work here is some realization that the war on drugs has not been very successful and that, in an effort to mitigate the high social costs of certain kinds of drug abuse, lawmakers are being realistic about the existence of the problem.

Social issues like disease and death via needle sharing, transmission of deadly disease to absolutely innocent third parties who contract via sex (or in the past, blood transfusions), the high costs to our public medical system that are basically bankrupting it and the spectre of addiction are being addressed with this approach.

I don't think anyone would argue that those not already inclined to engage in this activity would be lured into it by a program of this nature.

Instead, it is an effort to mitigate the above-listed problems, amongst others, and to extend some degree of humanity to those addicted persons currently behaving as outlaws.

If the program extended to supplying them whatever it was they needed drugwise, similar to the methadone program, I would think we could reduce drug related crimes massively, since the incentive to steal, rob, etc would be removed.

I'm all for making this country and world a better place to live. If this is what it takes to get these folks and their drug seeking crime off of the streets, not spread disease to innocents, and ease the burden on our public health care sector, then it seems like a good deal.

Bear in mind, JB, we're talking about a specific area here with problems that are directly and affirmatively linked to IV drug abuse. No one is proposing that crackheads be given free crack to smoke or a safe harbor to do it. (emphasis added.)

The Texas prosecutor association is on the record at the legislature as neutral on this HIV prevention legislation and testified that their members will have no problem if the legislature decides to grant local governments the option to use this disease prevention tool.

DA will not prosecute 73-year old Chaplain if HIV and Hep C prevention program passes

As reported by USA Today, the LA Times and others, Bexar County (San Antonio) District Attorney Susan Reed is prosecuting 73-year-old San Antonio chaplain Bill Day for preventing the spread of HIV by removing deadly dirty needles from the community and exchanging them for clean ones. Chaplain Day currently faces one year of incarceration and thousands of dollars in fines.

Last week, Texas Senator Jeff Wentworth announced on the Senate floor that Susan Reed will dismiss the case if the Texas legislature approves the Chaplain's HIV prevention program:

"Susan Reed is the criminal District Attorney for Bexar County and she did have some difficulty with this but her office has advised my office that if this bill passes, she will not prosecute."

You can watch the video by clicking here and forwarding to 2:07:10.

SB 188 heads to the House, Chairman Coleman's HB 3707 referred to Public Health

This morning Senator Deuell's disease control bill, SB 188, was considered on third reading and passed out of the Senate with 23 yeas and 6 nays. Now the bill will head to the House to join its companion bills in the Public Health Committee.

Before it passed out of the Senate, SB 188 picked up two more co-authors, Senators Hinojosa and West. Thank you Senators!

Last week Representative Garnet Coleman, Chair of the House Committee on County Affairs, filed HB 3707 relating to county-regulated disease control programs to reduce the risk of certain communicable diseases for certain counties. Thank you Chairman Coleman! Earlier today HB 3707 received its first reading in the house and was then referred to the Public Health Committee. Representative Ortiz, author of HB 272, is a joint author of the bill.

HB 3707 is very similar to the other disease control bills filed this session (SB 188, HB 142, & HB 272), with the main difference being that it would limit the counties that are eligible to establish programs to those with a population of more than 730,000. The legislation allows the county commissioner's courts in the six largest counties in Texas to approve the establishment of a syringe exchange program, and provides for a defense to prosecution for individuals participating in the programs.

To learn more about the benefits of syringe exchange programs please visit www.texasaccessproject.org.

Senate votes for allowing disease prevention programs

Earlier this afternoon the committee substitute for Senate Bill 188 was taken up for consideration on the Senate floor and passed to engrossment by a vote of 23 yeas and 7 nays. This was the second reading of the bill, and a final vote should occur on Thursday.

Voting with the yeas were Senators Averitt, Carona, Davis, Deuell, Duncan, Ellis, Eltife, Gallegos, Harris, Hegar, Hinojosa, Lucio, Nelson, Nichols, Seliger, Shapleigh, Uresti, Van de Putte, Watson, Wentworth, West, Whitmire and Zaffirini.

Senators voting nay included Estes, Fraser, Huffman, Ogden, Patrick, Shapiro, and Williams. Senator Jackson was absent.

While laying out the bill Senator Deuell said that if this legislation becomes law it will save the state money without costing the state any money, and that countless studies have shown syringe exchange programs do not increase drug use.

Senator Wentworth pointed out that Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed, who blocked full implementation of the pilot syringe exchange program that passed last session, has advised his office that if this bill passes she will not prosecute people participating in the programs.

To watch the Senate consideration and vote on CSSB 188 visit the Senate RealMedia Video Archives page, scroll down and click on the March 18 Senate Session, and skip ahead to 2:07:20 into the video.

The Access Project would also like to take this opportunity to thank Senators Wentworth and Zaffirini, who each represent a portion of Bexar County, for signing on as co-authors of SB 188. Thank you!

Abilene Reporter News op-ed: It's time to consider needle exchange program

Sunday's edition of the Abilene Reporter News featured an opinion piece on the benefits of allowing syringe/needle exchange programs in Texas. The author of the op-ed, Dr. William Martin, is a Senior Fellow at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and an expert on the issue.

At the end of the piece, Dr. Martin addresses why he believes Texas has not already implemented such programs:

Given the overwhelming evidence, why have policymakers resisted establishment of such proven lifesaving programs? Why have politicians and platforms of both major parties repeatedly vowed, "Not a dime for needle exchange programs!"? The real reason may be fear that any sign of being "soft on drugs" will hurt their standing among people who have not looked at the issue. But the rationale most commonly, often honestly, offered is, "It sends the wrong message."

Before we accept that rationale, we need to think about the message we send to IDUs: "We know a way to dramatically cut your chances of contracting a deadly disease, then spreading it to others, including your unborn children. It would also dramatically cut the amount of money society will have to spend on you and those you infect. But because we believe what you are doing is illegal, immoral and sinful, we are not going to do what we know works. As upright, moral, sincerely religious people, we prefer that you and others in your social orbit die."

The Texas Legislature is considering a bill to permit needle exchange programs. No responsible person wants to encourage drug abuse. No fiscally prudent person wants to waste money simply to satisfy a sense of righteous indignation. No compassionate person wants to consign people unnecessarily to death or a living hell. Fortunately, providing injecting drugs users with access to sterile syringes allows us to be responsible, prudent and compassionate -- admirable criteria for good public policy.

To read more of Dr. Martins work on this subject visit http://www.bakerinstitute.org/programs/drug-policy

Senate Bill 188 vote correction and movement update

Last week we let you know that the committee substitute for Senate Bill 188 was voted out of the Health and Human Services Committee on a vote of 5 to 1 with three senators absent. Now that the committee report is available we have learned that the three senators we listed as being absent actually submitted their votes by proxy, updating the final vote count to 7 to 2. Senators West and Zaffirini voted aye, and Senator Patrick voted nay.

Senate Bill 188 has been placed on the Senate Intent Calendar and could be voted on by the full Senate as early as next week.

Houston Chronicle and Associated Press focus the public on syringe access bill

The Houston Chronicle published an Associated Press description of the syringe access issue and the Texas bill, "Senate panel OKs shield for needle exchange." Constable Jimmy Willburn, pictured here, traveled to Austin to testify in favor of saving the lives of our public servants. Here is an excerpt:

In written and vocal support on Tuesday, law enforcement and health practitioners said the proposed legislation would prevent the spread of disease among drug users and prevent spread to the families of drug users, children who find dirty needles and others who are stuck by dirty needles.

Also, retired Bexar County Constable Jimmy Wilborn told the committee on Tuesday that the legislation would lower the chances of police officers contracting disease from contaminated syringes.

“My partners were stuck with needles when we were executing search warrants. As a constable in Precinct 2, two of my people were stuck with needles,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, if these people are distributing these needles, it’s going to be better for the police officers because of one reason — because they are going to be exchanging these things.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services has predicted that 100 new cases of HIV could be prevented in the first year of implementing a needle-exchange program.

Texas is the only state that doesn’t allow syringe exchange programs of any kind.

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Syringe exchange bill approved and headed to the Senate floor

The Senate Committee on Health and Human Services held a public hearing today and reported the committee substitute for Senate Bill 188 favorably from the committee on a vote of five ayes, one nay, with three senators absent. Voting in favor of CSSB 188 were Senator Nelson, Chair of the Committee, and Senators Deuell, Nichols, Shapleigh, and Uresti. Senator Huffman voted against and Senators Patrick, West and Zaffirini were absent.

Senator Deuell explained that his substitute language simply changes the exception to prosecution to a defense to prosecution and the substitute language exactly matches the bill the Senate passed in 2007.

Testifying in favor of the bill on behalf of the Texas Medical Association was Dr. Janet Realini, a family physician from San Antonio. Dr. Realini spoke about the medical evidence supporting the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs, and shared a moving story about having to tell one of her patients, a young mother of two she described as an innocent victim, that she tested positive for HIV. Dr. Realini implored the committee members to get the bill passed to help get injection drug users into treatment and keep them from infecting their families.

Next to testify was retired Bexar County Constable Jimmy Willborn, also a retired San Antonio police officer and former narcotics officer and supervisor. Constable Willborn said that while working in law enforcement some of his partners and employees, and EMS workers who he knew, were stuck with needles when they were executing search warrants and searching or helping individuals. He emphasized that syringe exchange programs will make it better for police officers because the programs will help decrease the chance of a disease being passed on to an officer.

Groups who registered in favor of SB 188 but did not testify include:
Texas Impact
ACLU of Texas
Texas Pediatric Society
Legacy Community Health Services
Scott & White Center for Healthcare Policy

To watch the hearing visit the Senate RealMedia Video Archives page on the Texas Senate website, and click on part two of the hearing on March 3. The fiscal note and bill analysis are available on Texas Legislature Online, but the Committee Substitute has not been posted as of this time.

Those who testified and registered in favor of CSSB 188, and of course those senators who voted in favor, have helped Texas move toward a sensible solution. When the federal government begins to fund syringe exchange programs, Texas should not be left out.

Learn more about the issue here.

Harris County Officials Discuss Syringe Access Legislation

Officials representing the Harris County Commissioners' Court, Houston City Council, Houston Police Department, Harris County Hospital District, Harris County criminal courts, HIV service providers, and state level elected officials attended a luncheon yesterday at the United Way of Greater Houston to learn and share the latest information about syringe access programs and the pending Texas legislation.

Dr. William Martin, Senior Fellow for Drug Policy at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, and Randall Ellis, Senior Director for Government Relations at Legacy Community Health Services, each made excellent presentations. Attendees were able to ask questions and share the latest information and insights from their perspective.

Dr. Martin had some in tears as he gave us a metaphor for the current syringe access situation in Texas (it is currently a crime punishable by incarceration to give a drug user a clean syringe in Texas) through a story of two neighbors who met in Heaven:

One neighbor in Heaven said to the other: "You mean you knew about Him the whole time we lived next to one another but you never mentioned Him to me?"

Imagine yourself working in a health care facility, he said, and you are approached by an injection drug user who has contracted AIDS by using a dirty needle. The dying person looks into your eyes and says, "You mean you knew a simple way to prevent the spread of this disease that is killing me, and you never mentioned it to me?"

Distributing a clean needle to an injection drug user and offering her a bridge to recovery costs about 7 cents. Learn more here.

Senate Committee Could Vote on Syringe Access Bill Next Week

Senator Deuell and Senator Van de Putte's syringe access bill, SB 188, is set to be heard by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, at 9:00 AM in the Texas capitol in the Senate Chamber. You can see the full text of the bill and its fiscal note here. Last session, this committee approved the bill by a vote of 7 to 1. If a majority of the committee members vote to approve the bill on Tuesday, it can be considered by the full Senate. Find names and contact information for the Senators who sit on the committee here.

Find legislative history and background information about syringe access in Texas here.

House Bills 142 & 272 gain new bi-partisan support

Last week the Access Project let you know that Representative Joe Crabb signed on as a joint author of House Bill 272, by Representative Solomon Ortiz, Jr. Well today Representative Crabb demonstrated his support for disease prevention again by signing on as a joint author of House Bill 142, by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon. Thanks again Representative Crabb!

Disease prevention and outreach programs gained even more bi-partisan support today when Republican Representative Brian McCall, Chair of the House Committee on Calendars, signed on as a joint author of House Bill 272. Thanks so much Chairman McCall!

House Bill 272 is referred to committee & receives a new Joint Author

Today House Bill 272, by Representative Solomon Ortiz, Jr., received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Public Health. I am also happy to report that last week Republican Representative Joe Crabb, Vice Chair of the Committee on Rules & Resolutions, signed on as a joint author of HB 272. Many thanks to Representative Crabb!

House Bill 142 referred to committee

House Bill 142, by Representative Ruth Jones McClendon, received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Public Health.

President Obama Makes U.S. Support for Needle Exchange Official

As reported by PRI The World, "In a significant break from both Mr. Bush and Bill Clinton before him, Barack Obama is making his support for needle exchange programs official."

The United States now officially acknowledges that our priority is to save lives and give our fellow human beings an opportunity to recover from addiction. This week the United States gave its negotiators at the United Nations summit new guidelines: "The US will endorse and support needle exchange programs."

The next logical step for the Obama administration will be to lift the federal ban on funding needle exchange programs, as promised during his campaign. This will allow all health institutions who receive federal funds to offer safe and clean needles to people so they can stop spreading deadly infections.

There is no better way to offer an opportunity to recover from addiction to an injection-drug user than when we have a chance to interact with them and show them how to care for their own health. Needle exchange programs are the number one path to recovery for these Texans.

Today, it is a crime in Texas to distribute clean needles - in fact, the Bexar County DA is currently trying to put an elder clergy member into jail as punishment. But the Texas legislature can change the law this session, bringing Texas into line with the rest of the world when it comes to compassion and saving human life. Get the latest updates on this blog and this site.

Senate Bill 188 referred to committee

Senate Bill 188, by Senators Deuell and Van de Putte, received its first reading and was then referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.

Dallas Morning News: Public Health Officials Must Take Steps to Curb HIV

Thank you Dallas Morning News Editorial Columnist James Ragland for highlighting the harrowing statistics on HIV in Dallas. The disease is spinning out of control:

"Dallas County had the state's highest HIV rate in 2006 and 2007. More than 13,500 folks are living with HIV/AIDS in Dallas, a 35 percent increase in the last five years, according to a report by the county's Health and Human Services Department.

"The black community is really feeling the brunt of careless lifestyle choices: Black residents make up just 20 percent of the county's population, but they represented a whopping 46 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2007.

"Worse still, the infection rate among 13- to 24-year-olds nearly tripled over the last five years. That's a group we can least afford to have succumbing to a virulent disease, particularly when you consider the mounting costs of HIV care. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars a year, most of which is coming out of the federal till."

He points out that, whatever our value system, public health officials must take advantage of simple prevention tools to stop the spread of the deadly infectious disease - especially when saving lives costs pennies:

"Make no mistake, my conservative religious cohorts are right on the mark when they argue that our fundamental challenge still is in overhauling the value systems of those who willingly or unwittingly put themselves in harm's way by sleeping around or sharing needles.

"But changing deep-rooted behaviors – an ongoing, epic battle whose end is nowhere in sight – is only part of the solution to this health crisis.

"It's also vitally incumbent upon public-health officials to do everything they can to control and curb a disease that poses a very tangible threat"

Visit this site for the latest, and sign up for free email updates, on what the Texas legislature is doing to prevent the spread of infectious disease.

Bush-era envoys to the UN blocking global promotion of syringe exchange

An article in the Washington Independent last week examines how envoys to the United Nations who were appointed by the last administration are blocking global efforts to promote HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The article goes on to question the envoys actions considering the fact that President Obama has clearly stated his support for syringe exchange programs in the Civil Rights section of his Agenda.

According to the article several members of Congress are now getting involved.

The episode has attracted the attention of some congressional Democrats. In a Jan. 28 letter to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.) cite “an apparent disconnect in U.S. policy” as it pertains to efforts to promote needle exchange to fight HIV/AIDS.

“We understand that the U.S. delegation in Vienna has been actively blocking the efforts of some of our closest allies — including the European Union — to incorporate in the declaration reference to harm reduction measures, such as needle exchange,” the Democrats wrote. They’re urging that the delegation “should immediately be given new instructions from the highest levels of the new Administration.”

If you want to let President Obama know how you feel about this situation you can visit the Contact Us page on WhiteHouse.gov.