Senate battle set on sale of syringes

State senators are preparing to begin debate this week on a bill that would legalize over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles in an effort to stem the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne infections that can be transmitted through dirty needles.

The bill, which has already been approved by the House, could potentially stage a political showdown with Governor Mitt Romney and Senate Republicans over whether a new law would help save lives or promote drug use.

Proponents of the bill contend that making it easier to obtain clean syringes would help curb the spread of disease, put Massachusetts in line with 47 other states, and eventually cut down on the state's healthcare costs.

Opponents counter that making it more convenient for addicts to obtain needles would be indirectly sanctioning illegal activity and could lead to more drug use and crime. They also say that drug users would still use dirty needles, even if clean ones were more readily available.

''We would be saying to people, 'What you are doing is illegal. But we'll at least give you the needle to do it,' " said Senate minority leader Brian P. Lees, an East Longmeadow Republican. ''I don't think we would be sending the right message."

Senator Susan C. Fargo, a Lincoln Democrat, disagreed.

''People who are addicted to drugs will [use drugs] anyway -- and we need better provisions for them to stop using drugs," said Fargo, chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Public Health. ''But a clean-needles bill doesn't encourage drug use, it doesn't encourage crime. It just makes sense."

Fargo, one of the lead proponents of the bill, said the measure would be supported by a veto-proof majority and predicted it would receive ''overwhelming support" in a Senate vote, which could come as early as Wednesday.

Eric Fehrnstrom, the governor's spokesman, said yesterday that Romney is likely to veto the bill if it ends up on his desk.

''Governor Romney believes that removing prescription controls on hypodermic needles is a bad idea," he said. ''It encourages heroin use, and because there is no system for the safe disposal of used syringes, it threatens to litter our parks, beaches, and neighborhoods with dirty needles."

Senate Republicans are planning to meet with the governor this week and hold a caucus to decide what tack they plan to take on the issue.

''It's still up in the air on whether I'll use parliamentary procedures to stall the bill," Lees said.

The House version of the bill would allow anyone 18 or older to buy a syringe from a pharmacy without a prescription. It also would decriminalize possession of a hypodermic needle, a misdemeanor in Massachusetts. It would also require pharmacists to hand out information about treatment programs and about proper use and disposal of syringes to anyone who buys needles.

Although much of the debate has centered on drug users, proponents of the bill say a new law would also make it more convenient for diabetics and others with health-related needs to buy needles without a prescription.

The House approved the measure, 115 to 37, in November, after nearly three hours of impassioned debate. Senate President Robert E. Travaglini told the State House News Service Friday that he could bring the issue up for a vote this week. He did not return phone calls yesterday.

Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and one of the primary advocates of the bill, said Travaglini's office had told her that a vote could come on Wednesday or Thursday.

If the state approves the bill, Massachusetts will become the 48th state to allow over-the-counter sales; New Jersey and Delaware are the only other states where the sale is currently illegal.

In the mid-1990s, the Bay State began allowing cities and towns to set up needle-exchange centers in their communities, where used needles could be traded for clean ones.

In most communities where the issue has been raised, residents opposed it because they feared that the centers would increase crime and drug use, though four communities -- Boston, Cambridge, Northampton, and Provincetown -- are running the needle-exchange centers.

''There's been no problems with these programs, but unfortunately there's a perception that people don't want them in their communities," said Haag, whose group lobbied for the current bill after unsuccessful attempts to open more needle-exchange centers throughout the state. ''Sixty-eight percent of HIV infections in Fall River are related to needles -- a huge number -- but people in Fall River don't want one of these programs."

Supporters of the bill acknowledge that a new law may not help curtail the number of drug users, and they instead are casting the debate as a public health issue that would help stem the spread of disease among drug users as well as their friends, families, and partners.

Of nearly 15,000 people in Massachusetts with HIV, about 39 percent were infected because they or their partners used a dirty needle, according the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

By reducing the number of people infected with HIV, proponents of the bill say, taxpayers would also save money. Proponents did not present exact figures, but the estimated lifetime treatment cost for someone infected with HIV is $400,000, Haag said.

The bill is backed by four district attorneys, including Martha Coakley of Middlesex County and Daniel F. Conley of Suffolk County, who testified last year at a legislative hearing.

Several health organizations, including the state's Department of Public Health, have also endorsed the bill.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.