Tuesday, February 19th, Newark became the fourth city in New Jersey to implement a legal syringe access program. Newark follows Atlantic City, Camden and Paterson in implementing this life-saving program. The program is run by the Northern Jersey Community Research Institute and will operate five days a week for three hours each day. The opening of the program in Newark has particular significance because Newark has been in the top ten nationally for numbers of HIV/AIDS cases among cities with over 100,000 population. Legal syringe access programs in New Jersey are possible thanks to legislation passed in 2006 which allows up to six municipalities to establish syringe access programs to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases. The Campaign for a Healthier New Jersey, a coalition created by Drug Policy Alliance New Jersey, was instrumental in advocating for this legislation.

DPA New Jersey and the Campaign for a Healthier New Jersey will continue to advocate for syringe access by supporting the implementation of syringe access programs and by advocating for legislation to allow for non-prescription sale of syringes in pharmacies. New Jersey is one of only three states that require a prescription for syringes.

Access to sterile syringes is proven to reduce the spread of disease without increasing drug use. Increasing sterile syringe access in New Jersey is an important public health measure, given that New Jersey has the fifth highest number of adult HIV cases in the nation, the third highest number of pediatric HIV cases, the highest proportion of women infected with HIV, and an exploding epidemic of hepatitis C.