The leaders of six Pennsylvania schools of medicine and public health have again asked Gov. Tom Wolf to use

to legalize needle and syringe exchange programs across the state.

The programs give free needles and syringes to people addicted to injectable drugs such as heroin. The purpose is to prevent the sharing of used needles and the spreading of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. The programs also collect and dispose of used needles, which are a health risk for people who come upon them, including children.

Public health experts have long endorsed needle exchanges as an effective means of preventing the spread of disease. Pennsylvania qualifies for federal funds to help make them available.

But under state law aimed at controlling illegal drugs, needles and syringes are considered drug paraphernalia, with the law preventing organizations from giving them out. This law also prevents the state from receiving the federal money.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have local ordinances that allow needle exchanges. But exchanges aren't allowed in much of the state, even as the opioid addiction crisis ravages rural areas.

the University of Pittsburgh, Drexel University, Penn State College of Medicine, Temple University, Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Pennsylvania.

They wrote in part: "Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have operated successful Syringe Service Program models for over 20 years. However, other communities, especially hard-hit rural communities, are being left out of the benefits of such programs ... The evidence is clear that such harm reduction strategies work, and decriminalization of syringes would allow these essential programs to publicly operate and expand their services."

Wolf on Jan. 10 declared a statewide emergency as a result of the opioid addiction and overdose crisis. One of the purposes of the emergency is to authorize the governor to waive laws that interfere with the response to the emergency. For example, Wolf enabled emergency responders to leave behind doses of the overdose reversal drug naloxone wth overdose survivors considered likely to overdose again, and waived some re-licensing requirements to allow drug treatment providers to focus more on serving patients.

The 90-day emergency ends in early April. Wolf administration officials on Thursday morning couldn't immediately be reached regarding his reaction to the request.