Nebraska is proposing a bill that would allow pharmacies and health care programs to distribute hypodermic needles used for illegal drugs to prevent the spread of the disease.
bill 307 The bill passed the Nebraska state House on a 37-2 vote, but must be approved by another vote before it is ultimately referred to Republican Gov. Jim Pillen for review.
State Sen. Megan Hunt, who introduced the bill on January 11, 2024, expressed gratitude to her colleagues for taking care of her issues instead of vetoing the bill.
“Instead of just voting no, you brought questions to me and we resolved them,” she said, according to the report. SCNR“That’s exactly what we were sent here for. That’s what the legislative work is for.”
at least for now March 2023Senator Hunt was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Currently, the law requires that drug paraphernalia be “delivered, possessed with intent to deliver” while knowing that it will be “manufactured, injected, ingested, inhaled or otherwise used to introduce drugs into the body.” “or manufacturing” is a crime. The human body is a controlled substance. ”
The new bill would amend the law to exclude pharmacies and “staff or participants in public health programs or behavioral health programs.”
Violating state law can result in a Class II misdemeanor, punishable by more than six months and a $1,000 fine.
by Centers for Disease Control and PreventionWhen people inject drugs through injector service programs, they are more likely to receive treatment for substance abuse. Similarly, the CDC also found that people who regularly use syringe service programs are “nearly 3 more likely to report a decrease in the frequency of injections compared to people who have never used such programs.” He claimed that it was twice as much.
of Canadian Center for Drug Use and Addiction It noted that the United States “supports Congress’ continued prohibition” on the use of federal funds to support needle exchange programs.
In other countries, such as the Netherlands, the first recorded needle exchange program took place in Amsterdam in 1984.
Canada established its first program in 1989 and now has more than 30 programs across the country. Similar to the proposed Nebraska bill, Canadian law states that syringes cannot be provided for illegal drugs unless the needles are “used for the prevention” of HIV infection.
SCNR noted that syringe exchange programs are in place in more than 40 states as of 2022.
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