As pastor at an AIDS treatment facility in the heart of Newark, I see the suffering of people living with AIDS and their families every day. About 60 percent of our residents have contracted the virus through intravenous drug use. But I do not see addicts, I see people who are dying. I see lives.
Addiction is an illness.
I hear people say, Just tell them to get off drugs, and you won t need needle exchange. We protect those who are addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. Cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are sold sealed, and if the seals are broken, the manufacturers recommend that you not use the product. Would you or I ever go to a medical office, needing to have blood drawn and say, Don t bother with a sterile syringe, nurse. Somehow, when it comes down to the spread of HIV through dirty needles among people who inject drugs, we forget about prevention.