I think that there is very poor understanding among the
public of the issues regarding needle exchange programs.
First, has anyone here ever tried to go into a pharmacy
and buy some disposable hypodermic syringes?
I have, and it was an extremely disturbing experience.
With all the hype in the media about the need to limit
AIDS and other blood-communicable diseases, it seemed
logical that syringes should be made readily available.
In Albuquerque, NM, this was most definitely not the case
when I went in to the local Walgreen's to make a purchase
last January.
The young girl at the pharmacy dept. in the back of the store
became quite nervous when I told her I wanted to buy a
pack of 29-gauge disposable syringes. She went to the
back of some shelves and seemed to be rummaging around,
but then she came back and told me they didn't have any.
When I pressed her to look again, saying it was a common
item, and that my mother needed it to take her insulin
shots, the girl, maybe a student, brought over the pharmacist.
The pharmacist told me that they don't sell needles unless
you have an insulin prescription. She also told me, in a
loud voice, that the size I had asked for was NOT for insulin
shots.
This was astounding! That a medical professional would
try to embarrass a legitimate customer.
Later on I told a friend about this experience, and he
went to the store and got exactly the same response.
Then he went to a small pharmacy, and began the conversation
by saying that he was an art student, and that he needed to
buy some disposable syringes for a conceptual art piece.
Two packs of ten needles (20 total) were sold to him for
the whopping sum of $5.00 plus tax.
The point of my story is that the vast majority of
heroin addicts can well afford to purchase brand-new
syringes, but that our society, very hypocritically,
calls out the danger, but discourages the most rational
solution. |
