The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

The Massachusetts Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday overrode Gov. W. Mitt Romney's June 30 veto of a bill that allows people 18 and older to buy a syringe from a pharmacist or wholesale druggist without a prescription.

Proof of identification is required to buy a hypodermic needle.

Supporters said the law will provide for the use of more clean needles and prevent the spread of diseases such as hepatitis C and AIDS.

Opponents said it will encourage illegal drug activities and litter city parks and streets with more used needles.

Late Thursday night, Senate Minority Leader Brian P. Lees, R-East Longmeadow, stopped attempting to block the bill with procedural maneuvers.

The Senate voted 25-11 to override the veto after the House voted 113-42 earlier in the day.

Lees said the legislation is "flawed public policy," but he didn't have the votes to prevent it from becoming law. He said he wanted to clear the way for lawmakers to work on other issues during the final two weeks of formal sessions.

Lees said he is very concerned about the law's effects on Springfield.

"It's going to create more dirty needles on the street," he said.

Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the Republican nominee for governor in this year's election, also opposed the bill.

"Imagine your children not only coming upon dirty needles in the park, but standing next to a drug addict in the checkout line at CVS, who is there to buy more needles to feed his or her addiction," Healey said at a press conference last month.

The law orders state officials to design and put into effect a program for "safe, secure and accessible" collection and disposal of spent non-commercial syringes and lancets.

Collection centers, including containers, can be established in medical facilities, pharmacies and municipal buildings such as fire and police stations.

Medical waste companies would pick up the containers.

Under the law, the state Department of Public Health must file a report with legislators on the proposed locations of the collection centers.

The department must put a list of centers on line and notify communities of the locations of proposed centers within their borders, but communities receive no veto powers.

A key sponsor of the law, Sen. Robert O'Leary, D-Barnstable, said Friday that Massachusetts will become the 48th state to allow the sale of hypodermic syringes without a prescription.

O'Leary said there is no doubt the law will reduce blood-borne infections such as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"Public health will be improved," O'Leary said.

The law orders the state Department of Public Health to develop an "educational insert" to accompany the sale of syringes and needles. Information in the insert would include the proper use of needles, methods for preventing diseases and proper disposal practices.

The public health department also must study the state's four existing needle-exchange programs, including one in Northampton, to determine if they should be phased out or expanded to other communities.
http://www.masslive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news-1/1153036094198350.xml&coll=1
©2006 The Republican