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July 20, 2006
MA: Editorial: Vote on clean needles is based on the facts
Wednesday, July 19, 2006, Editorial: Springfield (MA) Republican
The Legislature voted for life.
Lawmakers had passed a bill that would allow for the sale of hypodermic syringes without a prescription, but Gov. W. Mitt Romney vetoed the measure. Thankfully, both the state House and Senate votedlast week to override the governor's veto, paving the way for the sale of hypodermic needles beginning on Sept. 18.
The new law also calls for the creation of collection centers for used, dirty needles at police and fire stations, pharmacies and public health offices.The facts behind the new law are clear: The sharing of contaminated needles contributes to the spread of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis C and AIDS.
Making new needles available without a prescription - to those 18 and older - will reduce the spread of such diseases.
Lawmakers from both houses who voted to override the governor's veto did the right thing by seeing past the hyperbolic and illogical rhetoric that was repeated by the most vehement opponents of the clean needle law. Selling hypodermic syringes without a prescription in no way encourages illegal drug use. But it does save lives.
In the Senate, the veto was overridden by a 25-11 vote. The House trumped the governor by a vote of 113-42.
Lawmakers took the next practical step by establishing centers for the collection of used needles. Medical waste companies will pick up the containers.
Drug users will now be able to obtain clean needles and will have a way to safely dispose of used ones. This is the kind of law that can make a real difference. Lawmakers took a look at what is happening in the real world and found a way to make things better. Opponents saw something altogether different. They imagined a world in which people will be encouraged to use drugs because hypodermic syringes will be sold over the counter without a prescription. Do they believe also that people are encouraged to create methamphetamine labs
because the makings of the drug are readily available in local stores?
It's difficult to say exactly what Romney and other opponents were imagining. Thankfully, the great majority of lawmakers looked instead at the facts at hand
- and made a rational decision that will help save lives.
©2006 The Republican
Posted by lois at July 20, 2006 08:58 PM