*LEGISLATION UPDATE* 5 Bills Address Harm Reduction & Syringe Access in California

From California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS:

Several harm reduction-related bills have been introduced into the California Legislature this year. Three would expand access to sterile syringes in the state; two would remove barriers to providing assistance in the case of drug overdose. Full texts of these bills are available here.



AB 1701 (Chesbro) would lift the December 31, 2010 sunset on the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project (DPDP), the pilot program established in 2005 which allows nonprescription sale of syringes (NPSS) in pharmacies which opt in to the program. The current program requires county and/or city authorization in order for pharmacies to participate.

SB 1029 (Yee) would conclude the five year pilot, and make NPSS standard pharmacy practice statewide. The bill would eliminate the need for local government and pharmacies to opt into a program, and for county health departments to manage a program. It would also raise the number of syringes that an individual may purchase and possess to 30.

AB 1858 (Blumenfield) would allow the California Department of Public Health to authorize syringe exchange programs in locations where the conditions exist for the rapid spread of viral hepatitis, HIV or other potentially deadly or disabling diseases.

AB 2145 (Ammiano) would provide legal protections to providers who prescribe Naloxone, an opiate overdose antidote, and offer similar protection to individuals who administer Naloxone in an emergency.

AB 2460 (Ammiano) would encourage bystanders to call 911 when witnessing an overdose event by offering limited protection from arrest for simple possession or paraphernalia charges for people who are present when 911 responders arrive.

For more information on the provisions of the bills and their statuses as they make their way through the Senate and Assembly check the websites of the Harm Reduction Coalition, the Drug Policy Alliance and CalHEP, the California Hepatitis Alliance.

CA State Office of AIDS: Surviving 80% Budget Cuts

The Office of AIDS (OA) has lead responsibility for coordinating state programs, services, and activities relating to HIV/AIDS.

Although recent budget cuts have been traumatic to say the least, the Office of AIDS remains an extremely valuable resource for all educators, students, public health advocates, community members, syringe exchange programs, and communities still struggling to become authorized.

• Click here to visit their website. The site offers a variety of information including links to many other valuable resources.

Women Who Shoot Meth

From the Journal of Urban Health, May 2006 - Methamphetamine (MA) use is on the rise in the United States, with many cities reporting increases of 100% or more in MA-related Emergency Department (ED) mentions. Women are keeping pace with this trend: in 2003, 40% of ED mentions and 45% of MA-related treatment admissions were female.

This paper examines female methamphetamine injectors in San Francisco, CA, from 2003–2005. We assessed sexual and injection related risk behaviors, comparing female MA injectors to female injectors of other drugs. We also examined whether MA use was independently associated with specific sexual and injection risk behaviors. We found that female MA injectors were significantly more likely than non-MA injectors to report unprotected anal intercourse, multiple sexual partners, receptive syringe sharing and sharing of syringes with more than one person in the past six months.

• To read the complete paper "Sexual and Injection Risk among Women who Inject Methamphetamine in San Francisco" in the Journal of Urban Health, click here.

• The State of California Department of Public Health's Office of AIDS created a very informative fact sheet about sex and IDUs titled "Injection Drug Users and Their Sex/Needle-Sharing Partners." Click here to be linked to this information.