Fact Sheet

HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C in New Jersey

New Jersey has the 5th highest number of adult HIV cases, the 3rd highest number of pediatric HIV cases and the highest proportion of women living with HIV/AIDS in the nation. Furthermore, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that up to 80 percent of injection drug users nationally are infected with hepatitis C. It is estimated that over 160,000 New Jerseyans are infected with the hepatitis C virus. Because not everyone who is carrying the virus knows they are infected, they often lose valuable time in getting treatment and unknowingly pass the virus on to others.

The Economic Cost to New Jersey's Taxpayers

Restricting access to sterile syringes is not only bad public health policy, it is bad economic policy. Research on the cost effectiveness of syringe access has consistently shown that not only does syringe access save lives—it saves money.

What Can I Do To Support Syringe Access in New Jersey?

You can join the Campaign for a Healthier New Jersey by filling out and sending a Campaign Response Form. Forms are available online at http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/stateoffices/newjersey/chnj/ or call 609-396-8613 form mailed or faxed to you. Your name may then be listed among the members of the Campaign on our website printed materials. Read more below.

Syringe Access and Reducing the Spread of HIV and Hepatitis C

Every established medical, scientific, and legal body to study the issue concurs in the efficacy of improved access to sterile syringes to reduce the spread of infectious disease. Studies have shown that allowing pharmacy sales of syringes reduces risky injection behavior by 40%, and syringe exchange programs reduce risky injection behavior by as much as 73%.

New Solutions Campaign: Mandatory Minimums Hurt Families, Children and Communities

Until recently, little thought was given to the negative consequences of incarcerating such large numbers of people. But a growing body of research has found that our policies of mass incarceration, especially as they relate to nonviolent drug law violators, are hurting the vulnerable families and communities they were meant to protect.

New Solutions Campaign: Out-of-Control Prison Growth

Over the last 20 years, the U.S. prison population has grown at a staggering rate. The engine driving this explosive growth has been the incarceration of nonviolent law offenders and mandatory minimum sentencing. The U.S. now has the largest prison population, numerically and per capita, in the world. More than 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the United States. One in one hundred adults in the U.S. is behind bars. The U.S. accounts for only five percent of the world’s population, but we account for 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.

New Solutions Campaign: Racial Disparities

New Jersey’s racial disparities in incarceration are above the national average. In New Jersey, African Americans and Latinos account for only 27 percent of the population but they account for 81 percent of those incarcerated in the state. While measures of drug use such as the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse consistently find similar rates of drug use for African American and whites, the rate of incarceration for drug offenses for African Americans far exceeds that for whites.

New Solutions Campaign: Economic Costs

Incarceration is an expensive and economically inefficient method for addressing nonviolent drug offenses. It is like using emergency rooms to provide primary medical care — expensive and inefficient. Treatment, community supervision and other innovative and effective programs could save taxpayer money and provide a return on investment.

New Solutions Campaign: Support for Reform

Ineffective and unfair mandatory minimum sentences are opposed by a wide range of legal and professional organizations. These organizations have taken strong public stands against mandatory minimums

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