26:5C-26 Findings, declarations relative to sterile syringe access programs.

2. The Legislature finds and declares that:

a. Injection drug use is one of the most common methods of transmission of HIV, hepatitis C, and other bloodborne pathogens;

b. About one in every three persons living with HIV or AIDS is female;

c. More than a million people in the United States are frequent intravenous drug users at a cost to society in health care, lost productivity, accidents, and crime of more than $50 billion annually;

d. Sterile syringe access programs have been proven effective in reducing the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other bloodborne pathogens without increasing drug abuse or other adverse social impacts;

e. Every scientific, medical, and professional agency or organization that has studied this issue, including the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the United States Conference of Mayors, has found sterile syringe access programs to be effective in reducing the transmission of HIV; and

f. Sterile syringe access programs are designed to prevent the spread of HIV, hepatitis C, and other bloodborne pathogens, and to provide a bridge to drug abuse treatment and other social services for drug users; and it is in the public interest to establish such programs in this State in accordance with statutory guidelines designed to ensure the safety of consumers who use these programs, the health care workers who operate them, and the members of the general public.

L.2006, c.99, s.2; amended 2016, c.36, s.1.