MASSACHUSETTS: "Council Rejects Needle Exchange"

CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News Update 07/21/2005

On Monday, the Springfield City Council rejected a plan to set up a needle-exchange program by a 5-4 vote. Needle exchange advocates framed the vote as a public health issue but concerns about the city condoning illegal drug use prevailed. In a nonbinding referendum in 1998, more than 60 percent of voters rejected a plan to create a needle exchange. Councilor Rosemarie Mazza Moriarty, who had raised proponents' hopes by saying Sunday that she was leaning toward voting yes on public health grounds, ultimately voted no. "I have not been able to convince myself that a city can support an illegal action," said Mazza Moriarty.