Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford recently instructed the city's Health and Human Services Department to begin pursuing a needle exchange program for injection drug users. Administration officials said they believe such a program would be legal under a section of New Jersey's criminal code that exempts government agencies from a state law that criminalizes possession and distribution of needles. If the program is approved by City Council and accepted by the state, it would let drug users trade used needles for clean ones at mobile health clinics. The program aims to slow the spread of HIV and hepatitis C in Atlantic City, which has New Jersey's highest HIV infection rate among black males.

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