In 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law SB 1159, which allows California pharmacies, when authorized by a local government, to sell up to ten (10) syringes to an adult without a prescription. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, healthcare workers, AIDS and liver disease educators supported the law, which incurs no new costs. Without local ordinances, the sale and possession of syringes without a prescription remains illegal under the law.
The scarcity of syringes caused by regulation contributes to California’s high rates of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, diseases that are transmitted when drug users and others share contaminated syringes. Preventing the spread of the disease will save California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
- Over 26,000 Californians have been diagnosed with AIDS due to syringe sharing since 1981 .1Over one thousand Californians are infected with HIV through syringe sharing each year.2
- At least 60% of new hepatitis C cases in the US each year are attributable to the sharing of contaminated injection equipment.3 Hepatitis C infection is the leading cause of chronic liver cancer and cirrhosis in the US.4, 5
- As of 2001, an estimated 600,000 Californians were infected with hepatitis C, with an additional 3,000 new infections each year attributable to the sharing of contaminated syringes.6
- The annual cost of treatment for liver disease ranges from $15,000 to $20,000. The cost of a liver transplant is an additional $300,000.7
- Peace officers are at risk of exposure to hepatitis C or HIV due to accidental needle-stick injuries.8
- A recent study found that 29.7% of San Diego police officers surveyed had suffered a needle-stick injury on duty, usually during a pat-down or search. In the six months following a similar change in Connecticut law, needle-stick injuries to police officers decreased by 66%.9
- Numerous studies concur that improved syringe access reduces the rate of HIV transmission, without increasing rates of drug use, drug injection, or crime.10
- A study published in 2001 compared rates of injection drug use and rates of HIV among injection drug users in 96 US cities. 60 cities did not require a prescription for the sale of syringes and 36 did require a prescription. There was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of injection drug use between the two groups of cities. However, the rate of HIV among injection drug users was twice as high in the cities that prohibited sale of syringes (13.8% v 6.7%).11
- Sharing contaminated syringes is linked to 19% of all AIDS cases in California.12
- The link between injection drug use and HIV is particularly strong for women and people of color. In California, 37% of cumulative AIDS cases among women, 24.3% of cases among African American men and women and 22.4% of cases among Latinas are attributable to syringe sharing.13