ASSEMBLY, No. 3645

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

210th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED MAY 19, 2003

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA

District 15 (Mercer)

Assemblywoman LORETTA WEINBERG

District 37 (Bergen)

Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN

District 15 (Mercer)

Assemblyman CRAIG A. STANLEY

District 28 (Essex)

Assemblyman WILLIAM D. PAYNE

District 29 (Essex and Union)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Caraballo, Assemblywoman Cruz-Perez, Assemblyman Edwards, Assemblywoman Pou, Assemblymen Steele, Tucker, Hackett and Cryan

SYNOPSIS

    Revises laws limiting access to sterile syringes and hypodermic needles to prevent spread of blood-borne diseases.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

    As introduced.

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 12/12/2003)

An Act concerning the sale and possession of hypodermic needles, supplementing and amending Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes and repealing N.J.S.2C:36-6.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:

    a. At least 11 states, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin, have removed most legal barriers to the sale and possession of syringes;

    b. New Jersey is one of only six states that require a prescription to purchase a syringe;

    c. New Jersey laws, which require a prescription for the purchase of syringes and restrict their possession, present a formidable obstacle to the prevention of blood-borne diseases and threaten the public health and safety, while costing the State millions of dollars each year in health care expenditures;

    d. Nationally, approximately 30% of adult and adolescent AIDS cases are related to injection drug use;

    e. In contrast, New Jersey, with the fifth highest number of AIDS cases of any state in the nation, attributes 55% of reported cases among adults and adolescents to injection drug use, well above the national average;

    f. It is estimated that 50% of injection drug users in New Jersey cities have AIDS or HIV;

    g. Women represent less than 20% of the AIDS cases nationwide; however, in New Jersey, they represent approximately 30%, with more than 50% of the women with AIDS or HIV being current or past users of injection drugs;

    h. New Jersey has the third highest number of pediatric AIDS cases of any state with an overwhelming majority, 95%, resulting from perinatal transmission from mother to fetus;

    i. New Jersey is experiencing a rapidly growing epidemic of hepatitis C; the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 60% of hepatitis C infections are related to injection drug use, and as many as 80% of injection drug users may be infected with hepatitis C;

    j. The established link between injection drug use and both HIV and hepatitis C has prompted the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, a National Institutes of Health consensus panel, the American Bar Association, presidential advisory commissions on AIDS under the first President Bush and President Clinton, and the United States Conference of Mayors, to concur that improved access to sterile syringes reduces the spread of blood-borne diseases;

    k.    Studies by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Johns Hopkins University suggest that the sale of syringes in pharmacies would reduce infections among injection drug users by half and protect the health of law enforcement officers as well; and

    l. One study found a 40% reduction in needle sharing among injection drug users and a 66% reduction in needle stick injuries to police officers following implementation of a similar law in Connecticut in 1992.

    2. (New section) a. Notwithstanding any State law, rule or regulation to the contrary, it shall not be a violation of State law for a hypodermic syringe or needle, or any other instrument adapted for the administration of drugs by injection, to be sold in a licensed pharmacy without a prescription to a person over 18 years of age.

    b. A pharmacy that sells hypodermic syringes or needles, or any other instrument adapted for the administration of drugs by injection:

    (1) may make available to each person who purchases any such instrument, at the time of purchase, information regarding the safe disposal of the instrument, including local disposal locations or a telephone number to call for that information; and

    (2) may provide each purchaser with information on drug addiction treatment, including a telephone number to call for assistance in obtaining treatment.

    c. Notwithstanding any State law, rule or regulation to the contrary, possession of a syringe or hypodermic needle shall not be a violation of State law. This provision shall extend to a syringe or hypodermic needle that contains a residual amount of a controlled dangerous substance or controlled substance analog.

    3. N.J.S.2C:36-7 is amended to read as follows:

    2C:36-7. Any drug paraphernalia[, hypodermic syringe or needle] seized in violation of this chapter shall be subject to the forfeiture provisions of Chapter 64 of this title.

(cf: P.L.1987, c.106, s.2)

    4. N.J.S.2C:36-6 is repealed.

    5. This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment.

STATEMENT

    This bill revises the State statutes concerning the possession and sale of hypodermic syringes and needles in order to make these instruments more accessible to New Jersey residents seeking to protect their own health, and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other blood-borne diseases.

    Specifically, the bill provides that:

∙   Notwithstanding any State law, rule or regulation to the contrary, it will not be a violation of State law for a hypodermic syringe or needle, or any other instrument adapted for the administration of drugs by injection to be sold in a licensed pharmacy without a prescription to a person over 18 years of age.

∙   A pharmacy that sells hypodermic syringes or needles, or any other instrument adapted for the administration of drugs by injection:

    -- may make available to each purchaser, at the time of purchase, information regarding the safe disposal of the hypodermic syringes or needles, or other instrument adapted for the administration of drugs by injection, including local disposal locations or a telephone number to call for that information; and

    -- may provide each purchaser with information on drug addiction treatment, including a telephone number to call for assistance in obtaining treatment.

∙   Notwithstanding any State law, rule or regulation to the contrary, possession of a syringe or hypodermic needle will not be a violation of State law. This provision extends to a syringe or hypodermic needle that contains a residual amount of a controlled dangerous substance or controlled substance analog.

    In addition, the bill repeals N.J.S.A.2C:36-6, which requires that a person have a valid prescription in order to possess and use a hypodermic needle or hypodermic syringe.

    Finally, the bill takes effect on the 180th day after enactment.