San Diego: Police, Medical Groups Face Off on Syringe Bill

Glenn Backes remembers waiting anxiously for the results of HIV tests for his father, a policeman, after he was pricked by a needle while cleaning up a drug house in Oregon. "We sweated it out for six months," he said. The tests were negative, but Backes doesn't want other police families to go through the same thing. That's why Backes, California director for the Center for Policy Reform, said he's surprised politically influential police organizations are leading the charge against legislation that would make it legal to buy and possess syringes without a prescription.

The legislation, by helping to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C through dirty needles, would also decrease the danger of dirty needle pricks to police officers, Backes argues. California is one of just six states that prohibit the sale of syringes without a prescription. Groups representing doctors, nurses and pharmacists are supporting the bill, which would allow an adult to buy up to 30 syringes at a pharmacy. They believe the bill will encourage drug users to buy sterile syringes, reducing the dangerous sharing of needles.

"It's good public policy. It's good for the health of Californians," said Dr. Neil Flynn, a professor at the University of California Davis Medical School. Contrary to popular belief, Flynn said, many people who use illegal drugs would buy clean needles to reduce the risk of spreading disease. "Injection-drug users can be responsible for themselves and others. They aren't monsters," he said.

But law enforcement groups oppose the plan, arguing that it would encourage illegal drug use and undermine the needle exchange law. California law allows local governments to set up exchange programs. "Needle exchange programs are always done in a structured environment that has oversight and accountability," said John Lovell, lobbyist for the California Narcotic Officers' Association, which opposes the bill. "This would bypass that whole structure." This bill has passed the Senate and is pending in the Assembly.

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