California: Sensible Injection

"Thursday the state Senate, by a 21-12 vote, passed S.B. 1785, the Pharmacy Syringe Sale and Disease Prevention Act, one of the most constructive approaches to disease control -- as well as freedom and personal responsibility -- that has been proposed in years.

"...Currently anybody who wants to buy a syringe in California requires a prescription from a doctor, and the pharmacist has to log the sale, fill out the form in triplicate and make all the records available to law enforcement. ...The hope is that limiting access to syringes will discourage illicit drug use. The evidence is that it doesn't work, but the system creates complications for diabetics and other people who inject medications.

"...The other complication, of course, is that addicts still use illicit drugs, often sharing needles... that transmit hepatitis, AIDS and other blood-borne diseases. ...Many cities have tried a 'needle exchange' program under which addicts can exchange used syringes for sterile ones with no questions asked, but drug counseling is available. Some of these programs have reduced the transmission of disease. Most are funded by the taxpayers and some argue they create a sense of dependency and/or entitlement.

"S.B. 1785... would simply repeal the current prescription requirement for the purchase of up to 30 syringes by an adult (over 18). That would make users of syringes responsible for acquiring sterile ones -- and for paying for them.

"California first restricted syringe sales in 1929. Many states passed restrictions in the 1970s, hoping they would discourage drug use, but most states never had them. Many states... have repealed restrictions because they have precipitated the spread of certain diseases and have not reduced illicit drug use.

"The American Journal of Public Health last year published a study of 96 cities, 60 of which allowed over-the-counter sale of syringes and 36 of which did not. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of injection drug use between the two groups of cities, but the rate of HIV among drug users was twice as high in the cities that prohibited syringe sales without a prescription. The Senate was wise to pass this bill. The Assembly should pass it and the governor should sign it as quickly as possible."

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