California Governor Jerry Brown signed two life-saving bills last night that will help prevent new HIV and hepatitis C transmissions in California. The two bills expand access to sterile syringes, which is by far the most effective way to prevent HIV and hepatitis C among people who use drugs. These bills will save lives and save the California taxpayer money.
The first bill, SB41 that was authored by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) allows people to buy syringes at pharmacies without a prescription. Although some counties had opted-in to a pilot program which proved extremely effective in reducing syringe sharing, most counties did not participate. This expands that successful pilot statewide. When this bill goes into effect, people will be able to go to a pharmacy and take control of protecting themselves against disease from injection drug use. It gives pharmacists the ability to use their professional training to support community health and disease prevention.
The second bill, AB 604 was introduced by Assembly member Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) to deal with the lack of public health response to high rates of hepatitis, HIV and drug use in rural parts of the State. AB 604 would allow the California Department of Public Health to authorize new syringe exchange programs, after consultation with local public health and law enforcement leadership. Currently some cities and counties in California allow syringe access programs, but most counties still have no access to syringe access, whether from lack of political will or lack of understanding of public health. This bill puts public health experts in charge of the health of the community, instead of waiting for an elected official to do so.
“This is a huge victory for public health and common sense,” said Laura Thomas, Deputy Director of California for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Now all Californians will have the same access to proven, effective HIV and hepatitis C prevention. This gives drug users the tools that they need to protect their health and that of their partners, children, and communities, as well as protecting the California taxpayer from the cost of HIV and hepatitis C infections.”
Senator Yee and Assemblymember Skinner provided strong leadership on this issue. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation continued their commitment to preventing HIV in California through their work on this bill and the California Nurses Association and the California Pharmacists Association also played a key role in the passage of this bill.
Both bills go into effect January 1, 2012.