SUPPORT FOR PHYSICIAN PRESCRIPTION OF STERILE SYRINGES TO
INJECTION DRUG USERS
WHEREAS, one-third of all AIDS cases and a substantial portion of other blood-borne diseases
(such as Hepatitis B and C) in the United states are linked to injection drug use; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Public Health Service recommends consistent, one-time use of sterile
syringes obtained from reliable sources as a central risk reduction strategy for injection drug users
who cannot or will not stop injecting; and
WHEREAS, injection drug users often share and reuse injection equipment because of legal and
practical barriers they encounter in obtaining sterile equipment; and
WHEREAS, many injection drug users suffer from serious health problems (including drug
overdoses, sexually transmitted diseases, liver disease, tuberculosis, abscesses, bacterial infections,
and mental illness) but have few or no links to regular health care and social services due to the
illicit nature of their drug use and the stigma attached to it; and
WHEREAS, physician prescription of sterile injection equipment offers a valuable option for
injection drug users seeking to lower their risk of blood-borne disease transmission and has other
important benefits including providing links to substance abuse treatment and other health care and
social services; and
WHEREAS, a recent study indicated that physician prescription of injection equipment as a means
of preventing disease transmission during drug use is clearly legal in 48 out of 52 jurisdictions
(including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) and in two other jurisdictions (Ohio and
Oklahoma) physicians have a "reasonable claim to legality;" and
WHEREAS, it is also clearly legal for pharmacists to fill the prescriptions in 26 states (it is illegal
only in Delaware, Kansas, Georgia, and Hawaii) and in 22 other jurisdictions pharmacists have a
"reasonable claim to legality;" and
WHEREAS, despite the fact that physicians have broad discretion under the law to prescribe
drugs and devices that they believe are medically beneficial to their patients, currently few
physicians in the United States prescribe syringes to injection drug users; and
WHEREAS, several major medical and legal societies, including the American Medical
Association, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Bar Association all
support efforts to improve injection drug users access to sterile syringes, including physician
prescription; and
WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors has adopted two resolutions in support of
expanded access to syringes by injection drug users as a public health strategy to decrease the
transmission of blood-borne diseases (1997 resolution in support of needle exchange and 2000
resolution in support of removal of legal barriers to access to sterile syringes by injection drug
users),
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The United States Conference of Mayors
supports the prescribing of injection equipment by physicians to patients who are addicted to
injection drugs as a means of preventing the transmission of blood-borne diseases; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that prescription of injection equipment be done in conjunction
with referrals to substance abuse treatment and other medical and social services.
©2003 U.S. Conference of Mayors 
