TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – Three New Jersey cities with high rates of HIV infections will be able to establish needle-exchange programs under an order signed by the governor.

Gov. James E. McGreevey’s executive order declared a public health emergency in the cities, paving the way for addicts to exchange used syringes for sterile ones. It leaves Delaware as the only state without a legal method for drug abusers to obtain sterile needles.

Cities eligible to participate in the governor’s pilot program are Atlantic City, Camden and a third city yet to be identified. Atlantic City and Camden had already passed local laws to start needle exchanges, but their efforts stalled without legislative authority.

McGreevey sought to make needle exchanges part of his legacy by trying to fast-track legislation into law before he leaves office Nov. 15. But the measures had fallen victim to legislative wrangling.

“New Jersey has grappled with this issue for an extended period of time,” McGreevey said. “We have been unable to achieve consensus. The goal of the executive order is to demonstrate that the science works and to move forward.”

Health Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy said needle exchanges are a proven method of reducing the rate of HIV infection among addicts and their sex partners. He said there is no evidence such programs promote drug abuse among nonusers.

But Sen. Robert Singer, R-Middlesex, blasted the governor, saying his directive “is defying the will of the people in a desperate attempt to create a legacy.”

The activist group Citizens Against Needle Exchange is contemplating a legal challenge, according to its spokesperson, John Tomicki. Both he and the Republican senator questioned the scientific evidence concluding that needle exchanges lead to a decline in HIV/AIDS infections.

The Assembly had already passed bills that would allow communities to create their own needle-swapping programs and allow drug stores to sell syringes without prescriptions.

The legislation stalled in committee in the Senate, where three Republicans joined Democrat Ronald Rice of Essex County in opposing the bills. Five votes are needed to move legislation through their eight-member panel.

Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-Middlesex, a longtime proponent of needle exchanges and head of the committee in which the legislation stalled, said he still hoped to get the votes to move the bills to the full Senate. One of the measures includes $10 million for inpatient drug treatment.

A law would make the needle exchanges permanent and would allow the programs statewide. McGreevey’s executive order expires next Dec. 31 and applies to only three communities.

Meanwhile, Vitale savored the partial victory, saying, “In a very real way, this program will be able to take hold in communities that want it, where lawmakers have supported it and where we can measure its effectiveness.”

Rice, a vocal opponent, argued that more treatment beds, not clean needles, will help stem the number of new AIDS cases.

A judge recently struck down Atlantic City’s effort to start a needle-exchange program. The judge made no comment on whether the program was sound public policy, but ruled that city leaders had no authority to begin the program under current state law.

The attorney general’s office, which expressed concern about Atlantic City’s effort to give away clean needles, was reviewing the order, said spokesperson Paul Loriquet.

The third city to be named must show its support for the program by passing a local law authorizing it, and must have a rate of HIV infection that surpasses the state average, the governor’s order states.

State officials will draft guidelines for the programs and hope to have the first operating within months.

There are an estimated 28,000 injection drug users in New Jersey, according the state Department of Health and Senior Services, which says 51 percent of the state’s 64,219 HIV/AIDS infections are related to injection drug use.