The Bar Area Reporter - August 13, 1999

The bill would authorize clean needle and syringe exchange projects, and would authorize pharmacists, physicians, and certain persons under those projects to furnish hypodermic needles and syringes without a prescription or permit.

Each year, 8,000 Californians are infected with HIV; and injection drug use is the second leading cause of those infections. In 1998, injection drug use accounted for 25 percent of all new AIDS cases. Nationally and in California, injection drug use is the primary transmission source to heterosexuals, women, and mothers to newborns of HIV. Well over half of all pediatric AIDS cases are linked to injection drug use.

Numerous scientific studies show that needle exchange can radically reduce the number of HIV infections while in no way increasing drug use. Yet the continued question of the legality of needle exchange programs in California has inhibited several communities interested in starting such programs û including Sacramento, Long Beach, Contra Costa, and Santa Clara û from doing so; AB 518 would clarify these ambiguities that continue to interfere with the development and implementation of local needle exchange efforts.

While San Francisco and some East Bay communities now have needle exchange programs, AB 518 would allow these efforts to be duplicated by local communities around the state. This can only be good news for people who use injection drugs but now have no easy way to get clean needles in many parts of the state.

AB 518 was approved by the Assembly 43-31 earlier this year and its approval in the state Senate looks promising, according to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, which strongly supports the bill. Also, a staff member in Assemblywoman Mazzoni's office says that things "look pretty good" for passage when the bill comes up for a vote.

Unfortunately, while Davis acknowledged the efficacy of needle exchange in reducing HIV transmission during his campaign last year, there are now strong indications that he is leaning toward vetoing the legislation. Davis should put sound public health policy and the well-being of state residents ahead of imprudent political considerations and sign the bill if the Senate approves it. State senators have an equal opportunity to help Californians at risk for HIV/AIDS and they should vote in favor of the bill so that it gets to the governor's desk.

In the eight months since Davis has been in office, he has shown a tendency to ignore the Legislature, both houses of which are controlled by Democrats, many of whom were looking forward to real change after 16 years of Republican governors. Davis's sidestepping was demonstrated recently when he forced Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) to water down her domestic partners bill and combine it with another one. He has also threatened to veto a bill to implement provisions of voter-approved Proposition 215, the medical marijuana initiative.

If Davis vetoes AB 518, needle exchange programs in California will continue to operate on the fringe, when they should be expanded and made easier for people to access. The moderate approach to needle exchange that the bill outlines was designed to appeal to a broad coalition of supporters, including the city and county of Los Angeles, which co-sponsored the bill, the California Medical Association, the American Association of Pediatrics, and the California Nurses Association, as well as numerous governmental bodies, AIDS service organizations, health groups, and public health officials.

In addition to the public health aspects of needle exchange, there are financial and social considerations: lifetime care for a person infected with HIV costs an estimated $119,000; a clean needle costs 10 cents. Needle exchanges keep dirty needles off the streets and out of the parks, where the general public, particularly children, might inadvertently come in contact with them.

It is up to the Senate and Governor Davis to seize the opportunity to put the protection of public health ahead of misguided fear and right-wing politics.

To the Senate: Approve AB 518. To the governor: Sign it.
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Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1999. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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