newjerseynewsroom.com

BY STEVE ADUBATO

COMMENTARY

In New Jersey we like to think of ourselves as a state with progressive public policies. This is particularly true when it comes to the delivery of healthcare to citizens who are most vulnerable and in need of government intervention. E.g., NJ FamilyCare, which provides health services to the state’s poorest children.

But when it comes to the issue of allowing pharmacies to sell syringes, New Jersey’s public policy has been an abject failure. Up until now, only two states, New Jersey and Delaware, forbid this practice without a prescription. The policy makes no sense and many healthcare advocates argue it has contributed to drug addicts using dirty or used needles, which has only exacerbated the HIV/AIDS epidemic—particularly in urban areas.

For years, many in the healthcare community and some legislators, particularly Assemblyman Herb Conaway (D-Burlington), who is chairman of the Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee, have advocated that New Jersey’s law regarding the selling of syringes be changed. Yet, there has been reluctance, and in some cases fear, on the part of our elected officials in the Statehouse to act on this issue. I imagine the thinking has been that voters would see politicians who voted to allow the sale of syringes in pharmacies as advocating or promoting illegal drug use. Yet, one wonders how such an illogical point of view could have been sustained for so many years given that 48 other states do just that.

Hopefully the situation is about to change, because legislation to allow pharmacies to sell syringes without a prescription has passed the Assembly Health Committee and the full Assembly is expected to vote on this matter in the next couple of weeks. The state Senate passed a comparable bill 9 months ago.

If passed, the new law says that no more than 10 syringes can be purchased by any individual at any one time. But again, no prescription would be required. Who would benefit? First, we are talking about IV drug users and addicts, who would hopefully be using clean needles instead of dirty ones. Further, diabetics who need to inject insulin into their bodies on a regular basis would be helped if this law were passed. The legislation is supported by the New Jersey Hospital Association, the New Jersey Nurses Association, the New Jersey Pharmacists Association, as well as the New Jersey Chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Roseanne Scotti, director of the New Jersey Chapter of the Drug Policy Alliance, recently told The Star-Ledger that it costs approximately $618,000 to care for each HIV-afflicted person over a lifetime. Scotti added; “People can kick addiction, but there’s no cure for AIDS.” And according to Assemblyman Conaway, who has fought for this legislation for years; “Often, New Jersey is on the cutting edge of forward-thinking policy with regard to health care, but this time we’re bringing up the rear.”