California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign two bills that would expand access to sterile needles for HIV prevention, Human Rights Watch said today. Current law in California places drug users at needless risk of HIV infection from the sharing of blood-contaminated syringes.
The first bill, Assembly Bill (AB) 2871, would eliminate bureaucratic hurdles to establishing local needle-exchange programs. State law currently requires cities and counties to declare a “health emergency” before establishing these programs, and to renew the declaration every two weeks. The law would eliminate the two-week requirement.
“When it comes to needle exchange, excessive red tape can cost lives,” said Jonathan Cohen, researcher with Human Rights Watch’s HIV/AIDS Program and author of a 2003 report on sterile-syringe programs in California. “Cities and counties in California have shied away from these lifesaving programs because of the bureaucratic hurdles involved.”
The second bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1159, would permit drug users to purchase up to 10 sterile syringes in pharmacies without a prescription. California is one of only five states in the United States to require a prescription for syringe sales. The prescription requirement has proven a major obstacle to effective prevention of HIV and other infectious diseases.
Numerous scientific studies, including by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have proven that sterile-syringe programs reduce HIV transmission without increasing rates of drug use. As of 2002, there were already close to 200 needle-exchange programs operating in 36 states in the United States. This year, a World Health Organization (WHO) review of more than 200 studies concluded that there is “compelling evidence” that establishing sterile-syringe programs “contributes substantially to reductions in the rate of HIV transmission.” The WHO found “no convincing evidence” of major unintended side effects of these programs, such as increases in drug injection.
Human Rights Watch last year issued a detailed report on access to sterile syringes in California, “Injecting Reason: Human Rights and HIV Prevention for Injection Drug Users.” The report criticized California lawmakers for bowing to pressure by law enforcement officials to restrict access to lifesaving sterile syringe programs. Police associations in California have traditionally opposed these programs on the grounds that they condone illegal drug use.
According to research cited in Human Rights Watch’s report, California’s restrictions on sterile syringe programs are among the strictest in the nation.
“California’s syringe laws amount to a death sentence for many injection drug users,” said Cohen. “By signing these two bills, Schwarzenegger would reaffirm the right to life at zero cost to law enforcement.”
