California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Clean Needle Project Continues

Even with the arrest of some of its members, an organization that hopes to slow the spread of AIDS by passing out clean needles to drug addicts said its work will continue. “There’s no change in our commitment to doing it,” said George Clark of Prevention Point, which for the last year has given intravenous drug users clean needles in exchange for their used ones. During the group’s weekly needle exchange, in which members distributed new needles carried in a baby carriage, four Prevention Point members were arrested and cited Wednesday night. It is a misdemeanor to dispense syringes without a prescription.