HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

REMOVAL OF LEGAL BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO STERILE SYRINGES BY INJECTION DRUG USERS

WHEREAS, one-third of AIDS cases in the United States are linked to injection drug use and a substantial portion of cases of other blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis B and C are attributed to injection drug use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and

WHEREAS, injection drug users often share and reuse injection equipment, including syringes, because of legal barriers they encounter in obtaining sterile injection equipment from reliable sources (e.g., pharmacies); and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Public Health Service recommends consistent, one-time only use of sterile syringes obtained from reliable sources (such as a pharmacy) as a central risk reduction strategy for injection drug users who cannot or will not stop injecting; and

WHEREAS, current federal legislation prohibits the use of federal funds to support syringe exchange programs; and

WHEREAS, existing syringe exchange programs – both legal and underground – are too few to serve all the injection drug users who need their services; and

WHEREAS, nationwide existing laws, regulations and pharmacy guidelines prohibit injection drug users from obtaining, possessing, and safely disposing of syringes; and

WHEREAS, because of such barriers many injection drug users acquire their syringes from unreliable sources such as drug or needle dealers; and

WHEREAS, the vast majority of scientific studies examining the link between access to sterile syringes and drug use concur that access does not increase drug use or attract new people to drug use; and

WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution at the 65th Annual Meeting in 1997 in support of needle exchange, which recognized that providing access to clean needles does not increase syringe injecting behavior among current drug users nor attract new users to drugs; and

WHEREAS, six leading medical, pharmacy, and public health organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, and The American Bar Association have recently come together to encourage their state affiliates to take action to eliminate barriers to syringe access as a public health measure; and

WHEREAS, studies conducted in states where nonprescription access to syringes is legal indicate that few serious incidents associated with nonprescription syringe sales were reported by pharmacists,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors encourages states and localities to explore the removal of legal barriers to obtaining sterile syringes without a prescription; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors encourages state and local officials to explore strategies to ensure that syringes acquired through pharmacies are disposed of in a safe manner.