Tuesday’s editorial discussing the current bill in the Massachusetts state Senate that would allow the sale of over-the-counter syringes (“Over-the-counter syringes,” page 6, Nov. 15) was not only unfounded, but also lacked any relevant evidence to suggest that drug use could increase across the state.
The bill, which would give the Department of Public Health the ability to implement syringe sales across the state in conjunction with advisory committees, is an attempt to halt the spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The editorial urges senators to weigh both sides of the issue, which they most definitely should, yet goes on to claim that such programs could increase drug use because clean syringes would be more readily available. This assumption, however, is clearly unsubstantiated, as it fails to cite any supporting evidence.
Several government-funded studies of injecting drug users in the United States have concluded that such programs reduce new HIV infections without encouraging drug use. Conservative estimates published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that due to the failure to implement needle exchanges between 1987 and 1995, the country spent at least $244 million on medical care for HIV cases that could have been prevented.
Clearly, avoiding drug use altogether is the only way to reduce the spread of disease; however, we do not live in a perfect world. Injection drug use (which is a huge source of new HIV infections in this country) is certainly a problem in Massachusetts. Lawmakers should be battling this issue, but they also need to protect all members of society. As epidemics like HIV/AIDS rage among drug users, they are increasingly spreading to other segments of the population through other modes of transmission, such as sex.
While Massachusetts has held off on authorizing the sale of syringes, other states have implemented successful programs without increasing drug use. If this has not been a problem in the past, why should we believe it would be a problem in the future?
Ignoring the issue will not be beneficial for public health or for decreasing drug use. By refusing to reach out to a community engaging in serious high-risk behaviors, we are alienating one group and putting the general population at risk as well. If you want to fight the war on drugs, then you need to understand that drug use is an addiction, and as such cannot be stopped overnight. Clean needles at least decrease some of the risks, and research has shown that needle exchange programs have even resulted in increased referrals to drug rehabilitation services.
While this is a complex issue requiring an examination of all the information available, it is unreasonable to predict the future when the scenario described in Tuesday’s editorial has never played out in real life. Creating erroneous correlations between these programs and drug use is a step in the wrong direction. We ask that the editorial board examine the facts more closely before making such baseless assertions in the future.
Steve Reilly CAS ’07
Nancy Ringel CAS ’07
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