AEGiS-BAYW: Clean needle bill approved by Senate: Lawmakers have enough votes to override expected veto

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Clean needle bill approved by Senate: Lawmakers have enough votes to override expected veto

Bay Windows - June 8, 2006
Ethan Jacobs, ejacobs@baywindows.com

After weeks of delays the Senate voted 26-8 June 7 to pass the Pharmacy Access bill, a measure that AIDS Action Committee (AAC) has called the most important HIV prevention program in Massachusetts in the last decade. The bill allows needles to be sold without a prescription at pharmacies and decriminalizes possession of needles, and HIV/AIDS advocates believe it will help cut down on HIV infections among IV-drug users. Gov. Mitt Romney is expected to veto the legislation, but AIDS Action executive director Rebecca Haag said two supporters of the bill, Sens. Cynthia Stone Creem (D-Newton) and Stanley Rosenberg (D-Northampton), were not present at the vote, bringing support for the bill above the two-thirds majority needed to override the governor's veto. The House also passed the bill by a veto-proof majority in November.

"I'm very proud of our state senate today for having reviewed the evidence and voting on the side of good public policy, particularly good public healthcare policy," said Haag.

Romney spokesperson Eric Fehrnstrom told the Boston Globe last month that Romney will likely veto the bill. When asked about Romney's position on the bill the governor's office forwarded Bay Windows a copy of a letter sent June 7 to Senate President Robert Travaglini from Romney's Secretary of Public Safety Robert Haas and State Police Colonel Thomas Robbins, who argued that the Pharmacy Access bill "presents the Commonwealth with significant public safety risks." They claimed that the bill would legitimize illegal drug use and said the bill would lead to a proliferation of dirty needles that could present a danger both to law enforcement officers and to children who come in contact with the needles.

Haag dismissed Romney's objections to the bill as a politically motivated gesture to appeal to conservatives in his expected 2008 presidential campaign.

"Connecticut and Rhode Island have successfully implemented pharmacy access with no impact on public safety and with multiple public health benefits. No reasonable person opposes this bill. The science is on our side, and this is all about the governor's political agenda and trying to appeal to the radical right," said Haag.

In an earlier interview Haag said that between 2000, when Rhode Island passed its clean needle bill, and 2004 the percentage of new HIV infections caused by dirty needles dropped from 21 percent to 12.9 percent.

The bill was originally expected to come up for a vote last month, but Sen. Minority Leader Brian Lees (R-East Longmeadow), an opponent of the bill, succeeded in delaying the vote through procedural maneuvers.

This week's vote brings Massachusetts's laws on needle sales into line with much of the rest of the country. Massachusetts was one of only three states, along with New Jersey and Delaware, to ban the sale of clean needles without a prescription.

Pharmacy Access: where the candidates stand

After the Senate passage of the Pharmacy Access bill June 7 the gubernatorial campaign of Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey issued a statement opposing the bill and calling on all other candidates in the race to do the same: "Today's disappointing vote to legalize the over-the-counter sale of hypodermic needles jeopardizes the safety of our families and makes it easier for drug users to engage in illegal behavior. If this proposal were to become law, we'd be faced with more dirty needles ending up on our streets, in our parks and at our beaches. We are calling on all the gubernatorial candidates to stand with us in opposition to this threat to public safety," read the statement.

Democratic candidate Deval Patrick came out in favor of the bill, and his campaign issued a statement saying, "Deval Patrick supports this legislation because he believes it will reduce dangerous diseases in our state. Studies in other states have shown that programs such as these decrease the rates of disease infection without increasing drug use."

Chris Gabrieli, another Democratic contender for the corner office, also offered a statement in support, saying," "I support the Senate's efforts to prevent the spread of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. This step has proven effective in many other states."

The campaigns of the other gubernatorial candidates had no immediate comment on the vote. Peter Pendergast, spokesperson for independent candidate Christy Mihos's campaign, said, "As of this moment we don't have a position on it," explaining that the campaign was focused on preparing to announce Mihos's running mate.

Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Attorney General Tom Reilly did not respond to requests to comment on the Pharmacy Access bill.

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