A bill that passed the state legislature this week would allow needle exchange programs to use state HIV education and prevention funds to buy syringes. Currently, programs can only use the state funds to pay costs associated with needle exchange programs such as hiring staff and paying for rent and electricity.

The programs have been credited with dramatically cutting rates of new HIV and hepatitis C infections among injecting drug users.

AB110 was authored by openly gay Assemblyman John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). It received a 43-30 vote on final passage in the Assembly early Wednesday morning and now goes to the governor.

"This might have been a divisive issue five years ago," Laird said, but more people now realize "that these programs work and are vital."

In San Francisco, three groups will receive a total of $924,000 in the new fiscal year from the Department of Public Health to run needle exchange programs. Rates of new HIV infections among injecting drug users dropped 35 percent from 2001 to 2006, according to Jim Soos, assistant director in the office of policy and planning for the health department.

It's too early to know whether the bill, if it becomes law, would lead to the city's needle exchange programs receiving more money to purchase needles.

Soos said the department's budget for the next fiscal year has just been passed. If the bill does become law, the earliest it could have an effect would be the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Currently, programs receive funding from the health department as well as money from private organizations. Needles typically cost 5 to 10 cents apiece. Altogether, the city's needle exchange programs distribute about 2.5 million needles a year.

Soos said the move would allow the department greater flexibility in how to use the state funds. Officials at needle exchange programs appear grateful for the money they get, but said that flexibility could help them. They said there is still a gap between the need for clean syringes and availability.

Tracy Brown is executive director of Tenderloin Health, which distributes about 200,000 needles a year.

"San Francisco has been so progressive in the distribution of needles, and we still don't have enough funds to meet the need," he said.

Brown said limited staff and needle supplies have hindered users' access to clean syringes. Brown said the agency's stock of syringes goes empty every couple of months, and more money could help keep supplies up. He said it's important to remember the agency also has to keep up supplies of things such as condoms.

As much as money for more syringes would help, Brown said he wouldn't want to see money taken away from other areas of HIV education and prevention, such as counseling and hotlines.

Dana Van Gorder, director of state and local policy for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said "other jurisdictions don't enjoy the same level of support" that the city does.

Van Gorder said the foundation, which distributes more than 2 million needles a year, is "in good shape." But he said that SFAF helped craft Laird's legislation because there are many areas in the state with programs that are struggling, or that don't have any programs at all.

That's also one of the conclusions of a policy brief released last week by the Center for Health Improvement, a national nonprofit health policy center. Current law allows each jurisdiction to decide whether to allow needle exchange programs. Most parts of the state still don't have such programs.

During a conference call with reporters and the brief's authors, Laird stressed the importance of making the programs available statewide. This is the third time he's tried to get the bill signed into law. Supporters have been working with the governor's office to amend the legislation and are optimistic that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign the bill.

The amendments include stipulations that the state money could be used only in addition to general fund money, and agencies would have to gather 43 cents from other sources for every dollar of state money.

To view the report, visit http://www.chipolicy.org/pdf/6037.Syringe Policy Brief.pdf.