OVER-THE-COUNTER NEEDLES BILL VETOED

Governor Mitt Romney vetoed a bill yesterday that would legalize
over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles, but the Legislature is
expected to override him and make it law.

Romney, whose veto was widely anticipated, rejected the sponsors'
argument that Massachusetts should join 47 other states in promoting
clean needles to curb the spread of diseases such as HIV and
hepatitis C. Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey told
reporters at the State House that halting the spike in heroin use in
the state was far more pressing.

"We cannot in good conscience say that we should make needles more
available to heroin addicts," said Healey, who has made the needles
bill an issue in her run for governor. "And we cannot say that we are
sending the right message to our kids when we make needles sold over
the counter a legal activity."

But critics blasted the administration for opposing legalization on
public safety grounds when so many law enforcement specialists --
among them the district attorneys of Middlesex and Suffolk counties
and former Boston police commissioner Kathleen O'Toole -- favored the bill.

"It's wrong-headed and disappointing," said state Representative
Peter J. Koutoujian, a Waltham Democrat and lead sponsor of the
legislation, expressing confidence that Romney's veto would be overridden.

Koutoujian said he found it puzzling that Romney would cite concerns
about heroin use days after he vetoed $8.2 million in substance-abuse
funding included in a supplemental budget bill. Lawmakers overrode that veto.

The administration yesterday handed out charts showing that fatal
heroin overdoses in Massachusetts had almost tripled from 1997 to
2003, at the same time the number of HIV/AIDS transmissions through
drug use dropped by more than half.

"I think the Legislature has taken the kind of approach that is
laudable, which is they're looking to do good things for the people
of Massachusetts," Romney said. "But we believe . . . that some of
the unintended consequences would be more severe than the benefit
that would be achieved by signing the bill."

But Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of
Massachusetts, said the administration had used selective data in
trying to argue that the number of HIV/AIDS cases connected to
intravenous drug use had dropped significantly. The figures, she
said, only pertained to those who are drug users themselves, not
their sexual partners and others who become infected because of them.

"This isn't anything about the facts," she said. "This is political
grandstanding."

Asked whether there was evidence of increased drug use in states that
had already legalized needle sales, Healey said she was worried about
Massachusetts, not the rest of the country. Pressed on whether such
data from other states exist, Healey said she wouldn't comment on the
merit of studies that had been done because she had not reviewed
their "methodology."

Koutoujian said the evidence from other states that had legalized
needle sales is clear.

"The fact is every single study . . . has indicated there's no
increase in illicit drug use," he said.

Ann Dufresne, a spokeswoman for Senate President Robert E.
Travaglini, said the Senate would take up an override as soon as the
House sends it over.

"I think the bill passed by a comfortable margin. I've heard no
indication that that vote would change," Dufresne said.