Politics & Government
Lawmakers Advance Bill To Require Syringe Sales At Pharmacies
The bill is part of a broader state strategy of harm reduction to increase access to safe syringes, Conaway said.
October 15, 2022
Lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday that would require all pharmacies in New Jersey to offer hypodermic needles for sale to adult customers, expanding a 2011 law that allowed — but didn’t mandate — such sales.
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The measure is meant to reduce the risk of bloodborne diseases, said Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr. (D-Burlington), the bill’s sponsor and chair of the Assembly Health Committee, which advanced it.
“We are, particularly as exacerbated by the pandemic, at crisis levels of addiction, and unfortunately with needle-injection drugs, we’re seeing a rise not only of addiction but the terrible consequence of HIV and hepatitis C as a result of these unclean needles,” Conaway said.
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The bill is part of a broader state strategy of harm reduction to increase access to safe syringes, Conaway said.
Current law allows pharmacies to sell up to 10 syringes without a prescription, or more than 10 with a prescription. It was intended to facilitate access for people who need needles for medication, like diabetic insulin users, and intravenous drug users, to slow the spread of bloodborne diseases. That law also required pharmacies to post information about safe disposal of needles and addiction recovery services.
The new bill would mandate such sales, with signs at the pharmacy counter alerting customers to the availability of clean needles for sale.
The sign requirement prompted questions from the Republican side of the room, with Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz of Union County saying pharmacy counters are crammed with too many signs already.
Two Republicans — Assembly members Bethanne McCarthy Patrick of Gloucester County and Brian Rumpf of Ocean County — were the lone no votes on the bill.
“By making needles more accessible, we are potentially encouraging more use of illicit drugs,” Rumpf said. “In addition, it is still a mandate on small business on top of the other mandates they are forced to encounter.”
About 38,000 people in New Jersey live with HIV or AIDS, while more than 5,000 cases of hepatitis C were reported to state health authorities in 2021, according to state data.
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