MAYOR BACKS HYPODERMIC SALES OVER THE COUNTER

On Monday, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he will file a controversial
bill that would allow hypodermic needles to be sold over the counter in
Boston pharmacies. The mayor, who announced the plan at World AIDS Day
observances, said he would file the bill in the Legislature on Tuesday.
"The AIDS crisis is not over," he said in an interview. "We've got to do
something. We need another tool in place." Menino said the bill would allow
sales in Boston pharmacies, but he hopes it would be enacted statewide in time.

Boston already has a needle exchange program - one of four in the state -
that is designed to help curb the spread of HIV. Currently, a doctor's
prescription is required to purchase a syringe. Supporters argue that
over-the-counter sales would further reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis
among drug users. Opponents say it would condone drug use. "It's the wrong
direction to be going in. It would encourage further drug abuse by making
needles more available," said Gerry D'Avolio, executive director of the
Massachusetts Catholic Conference, which represents the Catholic Church on
public policy issues.

John Auerbach, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission,
said pharmacies in Connecticut are allowed to sell needles without
prescriptions, and studies have shown the rate of needle sharing among
addicts there has dropped. In October, California Gov. Gray Davis vetoed a
similar bill.

According to a report issued Monday by the Massachusetts Department of
Public Health, some 32 percent of all AIDS cases in the state are
attributable to IV drug use - about the same number as those cases linked
to homosexual transmission. In certain areas of the state, however, as many
as 45 percent of cases are linked to IV drug use.