Atlantic City's needle exchange will remain open until at least an extra month, a judge's order ensured Wednesday.
The South Jersey AIDS Alliance filed suit against the city to try to stop a move that would close Oasis, the Alliances' Tennessee Avenue location where clean needles are dispensed.
The exchange was to close by Oct. 12.
But a hearing is now preliminarily set for Nov. 12, when Superior Court Judge Michael Blee will hear argument as to why the move shouldn't be temporarily halted while litigation is pending.
Oasis cannot be closed until that hearing, under an order signed Wednesday by Assignment Judge Julio Mendez.
City Council voted 7-2 in June to rescind the ordinance that allows the needle-exchange program, citing the heavy burden on the city and arguing that the program brings in intravenous drug users and results in needles discarded on the city's streets.
But those arguments are untrue, according the civil complaint, which includes statements from three current Oasis clients.
All three, who are identified only by their initials, say they live in the city and walk to Oasis. If the program would move out, they would not follow, according to near-identical certifications signed by each.
Instead, the three plaintiffs who are all HIV-positive intravenous drug users, say they would continue feeding their habit by likely using old or shared needles.
"The primary reason that I am a client of the Oasis site is to obtain clean, new syringes which I believe helps prevent additional harm to myself and others while engaging in IV drug use," each filing states.
They say that while at Oasis, they also use the program's other services, including case management, Hepatitis C testing and drug-treatment services. They also obtain fentanyl test strips — which let addicts know if their drugs contain fentanyl — along with Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The suit claims the city's move violates their rights under the state Constitution "of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness," and the state Law Against Discrimination.
The exchange has operated since 2007, when it started as a syringe-access program to help intravenous drug users have access to clean needles in an effort to lessen the chances of infection.
In 2017, the service changed to an exchange, lessening the number of syringes and requiring a "one for one" trade, where users must return their used needles in order to get clean ones.
This resulted in a reported 98 percent exchange rate in August 2018, the highest of all syringe access programs in the state, according to Carol Harney, president and CEO of the South Jersey AIDS Alliance
The three-count suit claims arbitrary and capricious action, violation of the plaintiffs' rights under the N.J. Constitution and violation of the state's Law Against Discrimination.
