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Syringe Access
DPFMA asserts that syringes should be decriminalized in the state of Massachusetts. Additionally programs such as syringe exchange and pharmacy sales should become widely available.
History: Syringe Exchange
- Currently, there are 138 needle exchange programs across the country of varying legal status.
- Between 1993-1995, the Massachusetts legislature authorized the Department of Public Health (DPH) to establish up to ten pilot programs for needle exchange.
- The first Massachusetts program opened its doors in Boston in March 1994.
- Since then, DPH has established four programs in Boston, Cambridge, Northampton, and Provincetown.
- Local police forces have been acting contrary to the statewide initiative by harassing or arresting needle exchange participants.
- In 2002 the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled, in response to a SEP participant being arrested for possession of a syringe, that members of lawful SEP may possess needles obtained from the programs throughout the Commonwealth, even in cities or towns that have not allowed the programs themselves to locate there.
History: Over-the-Counter Syringe Sales
- Massachusetts is the only state in New England, and one of only five states in the country, that prohibits distribution of hypodermic needles and syringes without a prescription.
- Massachusetts also bans the possession of needles and syringes without a prescription, classifying them as drug paraphernalia.
- Expanding access to sterile syringes through over-the-counter pharmacy sales is a basic step in HIV/AIDS prevention, yet Massachusetts lags far behind the country.
- In the 2003-2004 legislative session DPFMA supported H.3329, sponsored by Representative Martin Walsh (D-Boston) and S.658, sponsored by Senator Robert O'Leary (D-Barnstable) that would allow for over-the-counter sales of syringes at pharmacies.
DPFMA Goals
The Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts supports needle exchange and syringe access programs as a proven public health alternative to the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.
- In the 2005-2006 legislative session DPFMA supports H.4176 sponsored by Representative Byron Rushing which will make it legal to purchase syringes in a pharmacy without a prescription in Massachusetts.
- DPFMA continues to support the expansion of needle exchange programs to provide the Commonwealth’s most disenfranchised population with clean syringes, as well as access to treatment services, primary health care services, and other life saving programs.
Resources
View DPFMA Fact Sheet on Syringe Access
View DPFMA Summary of H.4176
Research on Syringe Access
Other organizations working on Syringe Access
Campaign for Syringe Access Materials
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In Massachusetts, injection drug use (IDU) accounts for nearly one-third of new HIV/AIDS injections.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease Control find that most of today's Hepatitis C infections are due to IDU.
Among injection drug users, blacks are five times as likely as whites to develop AIDS, and Latinos are at least one and a half times as likely to develop AIDS as whites.
IDU is the source of infection for more than half of all children born with HIV.
Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) have a proven success record of preventing transmission of HIV and other diseases and providing access to a variety of health and social services, housing, and treatment.
SEPs remove infected needles from circulation, thereby protecting public health, as well as the health of the individual drug user.
According to a 2003 study, after Connecticut passed legislation allowing for over-the-counter pharmacy sales, the percentage of drug users who reported sharing syringes decreased by 40%.
Connecticut saw a 66% decrease in syringe stick injuries to police officers over a six-month period after pharmacy sales legislation passed.
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