"With a few strokes of the pen, the governor can save lives and end bureaucratic waste all at the same time," said Berg, D-Eureka.

AB 2871 does away with a section of law that requires counties to declare a health emergency every two weeks in order to operate a needle exchange program.

"AIDS is a crisis that doesn't go away every two weeks," Berg said. "We need to use every tool to stop its spread."

In California, more than 1,800 people die of AIDS every year, and 1,500 new infections occur through syringe sharing among intravenous drug users. Another 5,000 people become infected with Hepatitis C in the same manner.

Needle exchange programs protect more than just drug users, according to the health officials who support the bill. They protect the men and women who unknowingly expose themselves to this risk during sex. Preventing infections also protects the children born to these unions.

The following 14 cities and counties currently operate needle-exchange programs: the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Ventura, and the cities of Berkeley and Los Angeles.

Health officers from Butte, Inyo, Riverside, Sacramento, Siskyou, Solano and Yolo counties have expressed interest in operating exchange programs if the Berg bill becomes law.

Injection drug users are the second-largest group at risk of HIV infection, and are the primary source of heterosexual, female and perinatal transmission.