California: L.A. County to Allow Sales of Needles

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to allow pharmacies that register with the county's Department of Health Services to sell customers up to 10 syringes without a prescription. Prior to January, when a new law took effect, California was one of only five states that prohibited non-prescription sales of syringes. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 14 percent of the 49,000 people who have AIDS or have died of it were either intravenous drug users or IDUs' sexual partners.

The supervisors' vote affects pharmacies throughout the county, except in Pasadena and Long Beach, which have their own health departments. Previously, the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood had voted in favor of the effort.

Five years ago, the supervisors narrowly approved a plan that would have certified needle-exchange programs and given providers immunity from prosecution, but it languished in the county's Department of Health Services. That agency's director, Dr. Jonathan Fielding, apologized for the delay and said the department would redouble efforts to create a certification program.

The city of Los Angeles has helped fund needle-exchange programs for a decade: Last year, seven programs there served 11,000 drug users. Between 120,000 and 190,000 IDUs live in the county, and health officials estimate that 45 percent of them share syringes. In studies, Fielding said, needle exchanges and over-the-counter syringe sales have brought about a dramatic decline in needle sharing and HIV transmission.

Pharmacies registered under the new program will be required to give IDUs information about drug treatment and testing for HIV and hepatitis.

In March, Riverside County voted against allowing non-prescription needle sales. Counties that have approved the sales include Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Yuba, and Yolo. In Los Angeles County, only Pasadena and Long Beach are without programs. Los Angeles County officials hope non-prescription syringe sales will be underway in pharmacies there by October.

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