A plea to pharmacists.

Byline: The Register-Guard

A simple syllogism: Injection drug users transmit HIV and Hepatitis C by sharing dirty needles. Treating people who contract HIV and Hepatitis C is fantastically expensive. Therefore, providing drug addicts with easy access to sterile syringes saves money and lives.

That's why needle exchange programs, such as the one run successfully by HIV Alliance in Eugene the past five years, are the weapon of choice on this front of the drug war. Now, state health officials hope to broaden the offensive by enlisting pharmacists' aid in providing another effective avenue for drug addicts to obtain clean needles.

It's completely legal in Oregon to sell syringes to anyone who wants them, no questions asked. More important, it's the right thing to do from a public health perspective, which is why pharmacists are being urged to participate in nonjudgmental syringe sales by the American Medical Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association and the U.S. Public Health Service.

Fully a third of Oregon's pharmacists are already on board and have indicated they will always sell syringes to suspected injection drug users. But a 2002 Department of Human Services survey of Oregon pharmacists also revealed that 16 percent said they would never sell syringes to suspected addicts, leaving 54 percent who said they would sell on a conditional basis.

It's the latter group, representing more than half of the state's retail pharmacists, that public health officials would like to persuade to join the campaign. Winning their support means overcoming some understandable reluctance these pharmacists expressed about doing business with drug addicts.

There are concerns about having drug users in the store, that they'll shoplift or scare away other customers. Some pharmacists worry that selling syringes to suspected drug addicts will increase drug use, crime and improperly discarded syringes.

The available research should ease these fears. No evidence indicates that needle exchange or retail sales programs increase drug use, or that injection drug users are disruptive customers. And the latest study of needle exchange programs by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health specifically cites the advantages of support by pharmacists.

"Needle exchange programs should be supplemented by the expanded sale of syringes by pharmacists, an approach that has the advantage of protecting client confidentiality while still guaranteeing the client that the syringe obtained is sterile," the study said. "This is in marked contrast to the situation on the street, where syringes are often repackaged by unscrupulous dealers so as to appear new."

Another huge advantage of having pharmacists participate in syringe sales to drug users is the additional opportunity it presents to offer addicts credible information about treatment. Face it: When it comes to drug information, we trust our local pharmacist.

In the Seattle area, where a successful pharmacy syringe sale program has been running since 2001, the county health department supplies participating pharmacies with brochures on where drug addicts can get treatment and how to properly dispose of needles. The program has helped more than 400 people get into treatment in the past two years.

Gary Schnabel, executive director of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, told Register-Guard reporter Tim Christie that his agency has no immediate plans to issue a policy statement on the syringe issue, but would consider doing so if asked.

Consider yourself asked, Mr. Schnabel. Use the board's influence to increase participation by Oregon pharmacists in this important public health initiative.