Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - February 16, 2005
J.K. Dineen, jdineen@examiner.com
The law, which now goes before the full board, would allow people 18 and older to purchase up to 10 needles at a time without a prescription. With each new batch of clean needles, the drug users would receive a plastic container to store the dirty needles, as well as literature discussing heroin addiction and treatment.
The drug store needle ordinance, a local version of legislation Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law late last year, is an effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, according to Supervisor Bevan Dufty, who sponsored the legislation. It is estimated that 20 percent of The City's 17,000 heroin addicts are HIV-positive and nearly 80 percent have hepatitis C.
Colleen Chawla, assistant director of policy and planning for the Department of Health, said Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacy chains have agreed to provide free needle-disposal boxes.
"You can put a needle in, but you can't take them out and so it won't poke anybody," Chawla said.
The City currently has 10 needle-exchange sites, mostly clustered around the Tenderloin and South of Market, which exchange more than 2 million needles a year. By spreading out needle distribution, the legislation could reduce the number of dirty needles left in parks and alleyways near the exchanges, Dufty said.
Neighborhood Park Council Executive Director Isabel Wade said she is skeptical that selling needles at pharmacies would led to fewer dirty needles turning up on tot lots and in sandboxes. Wade said children have been stuck with needles at a number of parks, including her neighborhood park, Buena Vista in the Haight.
"It makes parents furious -- they should not have to worry about stuff like that in the sandbox," Wade said.
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