Dear Governor Davis,
We are writing on behalf of Human Rights Watch to urge you to sign Senate Bill 774, the Syringe Pharmacy Sale and Disease Prevention Act. The aim of this bill is to reduce HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users by allowing them to purchase up to thirty sterile syringes in a pharmacy without a prescription. With as many as 25 percent of California’s new AIDS cases in 2002 linked to injection drug use, you no doubt appreciate the importance of taking swift and effective measures to prevent further HIV transmission in this community.
As you will see from the enclosed copy of “Injecting Reason: Human Rights and HIV Prevention for Injection Drug Users,” a report we are releasing today, California is in numerous respects obstructing the successful operation of effective sterile syringe programs, including needle exchange. Actions documented in this report include stops and seizures of needle exchange clients under contradictory drug paraphernalia laws; continued legal restrictions needle exchange in some counties; and a total ban on nonprescription pharmacy sales of syringes.
Interference with sterile syringe programs cannot be justified on public health grounds. Government-sponsored evaluations of both needle exchange and nonprescription pharmacy sales of syringes show that these programs dramatically reduce rates of HIV and hepatitis C prevention; provide impetus for the safe disposal of used syringes; and do not increase rates of drug use. Restricting these programs in the face of unassailable scientific evidence represents an affront to public health, and violates injection drug users’ internationally recognized human right to take steps to protect themselves from epidemic disease.
Senate Bill 774 is a test of your leadership on HIV prevention and human rights. We urge you to sign it into law.
Sincerely,
/s/
Joanne Csete
Director
HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program |
/s/
Jamie Fellner, Esq.
Director
U.S. Program |
cc: The Honorable John Vasconcellos, California State Senate
