SENATE BATTLE SET ON SALE OF SYRINGES

Political Lines Drawn on Mass. Legislation

State senators are preparing to begin debate this week on a bill that
would legalize over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles in an
effort to stem the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne
infections that can be transmitted through dirty needles.

The bill, which has already been approved by the House, could
potentially stage a political showdown with Governor Mitt Romney and
Senate Republicans over whether a new law would help save lives or
promote drug use. Proponents of the bill contend that making it
easier to obtain clean syringes would help curb the spread of
disease, put Massachusetts in line with 47 other states, and
eventually cut down on the state's healthcare costs. Opponents
counter that making it more convenient for addicts to obtain needles
would be indirectly sanctioning illegal activity and could lead to
more drug use and crime. They also say that drug users would still
use dirty needles, even if clean ones were more readily available.

"We would be saying to people, 'What you are doing is illegal. But
we'll at least give you the needle to do it,' " said Senate minority
leader Brian P. Lees, an East Longmeadow Republican. "I don't think
we would be sending the right message."

Senator Susan C. Fargo, a Lincoln Democrat, disagreed. "People who
are addicted to drugs will [use drugs] anyway -- and we need better
provisions for them to stop using drugs," said Fargo, chairwoman of
the Joint Committee on Public Health. "But a clean-needles bill
doesn't encourage drug use, it doesn't encourage crime. It just makes
sense." Fargo, one of the lead proponents of the bill, said the
measure would be supported by a veto-proof majority and predicted it
would receive "overwhelming support" in a Senate vote, which could
come as early as Wednesday. Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor's
spokesman, said yesterday that Romney is likely to veto the bill if
it ends up on his desk.

"Governor Romney believes that removing prescription controls on
hypodermic needles is a bad idea," he said. "It encourages heroin
use, and because there is no system for the safe disposal of used
syringes, it threatens to litter our parks, beaches, and
neighborhoods with dirty needles." Senate Republicans are planning to
meet with the governor this week and hold a caucus to decide what
tack they plan to take on the issue. "It's still up in the air on
whether I'll use parliamentary procedures to stall the bill," Lees said.

The House version of the bill would allow anyone 18 or older to buy a
syringe from a pharmacy without a prescription. It also would
decriminalize possession of a hypodermic needle, a misdemeanor in
Massachusetts. It would also require pharmacists to hand out
information about treatment programs and about proper use and
disposal of syringes to anyone who buys needles. Although much of the
debate has centered on drug users, proponents of the bill say a new
law would also make it more convenient for diabetics and others with
health-related needs to buy needles without a prescription. The House
approved the measure, 115 to 37, in November, after nearly three
hours of impassioned debate. Senate President Robert E. Travaglini
told the State House News Service Friday that he could bring the
issue up for a vote this week. He did not return phone calls yesterday.

Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of
Massachusetts and one of the primary advocates of the bill, said
Travaglini's office had told her that a vote could come on Wednesday
or Thursday. If the state approves the bill, Massachusetts will
become the 48th state to allow over-the-counter sales; New Jersey and
Delaware are the only other states where the sale is currently illegal.

In the mid-1990s, the Bay State began allowing cities and towns to
set up needle-exchange centers in their communities, where used
needles could be traded for clean ones.

In most communities where the issue has been raised, residents
opposed it because they feared that the centers would increase crime
and drug use, though four communities -- Boston, Cambridge,
Northampton, and Provincetown -- are running the needle-exchange centers.

"There's been no problems with these programs, but unfortunately
there's a perception that people don't want them in their
communities," said Haag, whose group lobbied for the current bill
after unsuccessful attempts to open more needle-exchange centers
throughout the state. "Sixty-eight percent of HIV infections in Fall
River are related to needles -- a huge number -- but people in Fall
River don't want one of these programs."

Supporters of the bill acknowledge that a new law may not help
curtail the number of drug users, and they instead are casting the
debate as a public health issue that would help stem the spread of
disease among drug users as well as their friends, families, and partners.

Of nearly 15,000 people in Massachusetts with HIV, about 39 percent
were infected because they or their partners used a dirty needle,
according the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

By reducing the number of people infected with HIV, proponents of the
bill say, taxpayers would also save money. Proponents did not present
exact figures, but the estimated lifetime treatment cost for someone
infected with HIV is $400,000, Haag said.

The bill is backed by four district attorneys, including Martha
Coakley of Middlesex County and Daniel F. Conley of Suffolk County,
who testified last year at a legislative hearing.

Several health organizations, including the state's Department of
Public Health, have also endorsed the bill.