ALLOW NON-PRESCRIPTION SYRINGE SALES

Latest news from the American Journal of Public Health: The HIV/AIDS and
hepatitis-C rate is dropping in places where syringes are available without
a prescription.

The bad news: Six states -- including California -- still require
prescriptions, even though a Journal study of 96 U.S. cities last year
showed the HIV rate to be twice as high in the 36 cities that require
prescriptions than the 60 cities that did not.

The study also showed no difference in drug use between cities that
required prescriptions and those that don't. That's because drug users who
can't get clean needles will use dirty ones. Dirty needles are responsible
for 19 percent of all AIDS cases in California and about 50 percent of all
hepatitis-C cases.

Logically, California should pass a new law allowing the sale of sterile
syringes without a prescription. It has been proven elsewhere that such
laws don't increase drug use, but reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis-C.

Fortunately, such a law is under consideration in the California Legislature.

Senate Bill 1785, by Democrat John Vasconcellos, has passed the State
Senate and goes to the full Assembly in August.

Here are a few more reasons why it deserves passage and the governor's
signature:

* It's free to taxpayers. The bill allows adults to spend their own money
to buy sterile syringes. Furthermore, it could reduce public spending by
lowering the number of sick and dying.

* It has bipartisan support. Republican Assembly Member Dick Dickerson of
Redding, the only retired narcotics officer in the legislature, supports
the bill.

* It is supported by health and science professionals. The list includes
the California Medical Association, the California Nurses Association, the
American Medical Association, Kaiser Permanente, the National Academy of
Sciences, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the
state's pharmacist group.

* It protects law enforcement officers. Accidental needlestick injuries to
officers during pat-down searches declined after similar changes in law in
other states.

* It educates drug users. Handouts would be distributed with the sale of
syringes, giving information on how to properly dispose of needles, how to
prevent HIV and hepatitis, and how to obtain treatment for drug addiction.
The bill also provides for on-site disposal centers at pharmacies.

* It increases penalties for improper disposal of needles.

The Assembly should pass this sensible, cost-effective and potentially
life-saving bill and Governor Davis should sign it.