Abstract
Objectives
To determine the availability of nonprescription needles and syringes (NS) through pharmacy sales and to assess the impact of pharmacy policies and municipal paraphernalia laws on pharmacists' selling practices.
Design
Telephone survey of all pharmacies in Alaska's four largest cities.
Setting
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Ketchikan, Alaska.
Subjects
A single pharmacist from each pharmacy represented in the cities' phone books.
Main Outcome Measures
Reports of (1) pharmacies' policies and individual pharmacists' procedures regarding the nonprescription sale of NS, (2) pharmacists' selling practices, and (3) identification of conditions that may affect pharmacists' decisions to sell nonprescription NS.
Results
Response rate of 86% (37/43); 77% of pharmacists reported selling at least one nonprescription NS in the last month. Store policy was related to selling practices; however, there was no difference in selling practices between a city with a paraphernalia law and cities without such laws. Logistic regression revealed pharmacists were more likely to sell NS if they worked in chain pharmacies and estimated that a high number of other local pharmacists sell nonprescription NS.
Conclusion
NS are available through nonprescription sales in Alaskan pharmacies. The majority of pharmacies have store policies that permit pharmacists to sell nonprescription NS, either in all cases or at their discretion. Municipal paraphernalia laws do not determine the selling practices of individual pharmacists.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (399.7 KB).
References
- 1.Shah S, Shapshak P, Rivers JE, et al. Detection of HIV-1 DNA in needles/syringes, paraphernalia, and washes from shooting galleries in Miami: a preliminary laboratory report. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1996;11:301–306. doi: 10.1097/00042560-199603010-00010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Koester S. Following the blood: syringe reuse leads to blood-borne virus transmission among injection drug users [letter] J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1998;18(suppl 1):139–139. doi: 10.1097/00042560-199802001-00023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Normand J, Vlahov D, Moses LE, editors. Preventing HIV Transmission: the Role of Sterile Needles and Bleach. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1995. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Gostin LO, Lazzarini Z, Jones TS, Flaherty K. Prevention of HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases among injection drug users. JAMA. 1997;277:53–62. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Gleghorn AA, Gee G, Vlahov D. Pharmacists' attitudes about pharmacy sale of needles/syringes and needle exchange programs in a city without needle/syringe prescription laws. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1998;18(suppl 1):89–93. doi: 10.1097/00042560-199802001-00016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Gleghorn AA, Jones TS, Doherty MC, Celentano DD, Vlahov D. Acquisition and use of needles and syringes by injecting drug users in Baltimore, Maryland. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1995;10:97–103. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Sheridan J, Strang J, Barber N, Glanz A. Role of community pharmacies in relation to HIV prevention and drug misuse: findings from the 1995 national survey in England and Wales. BMJ. 1996;313:272–274. doi: 10.1136/bmj.313.7052.272. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.Glanz A, Byrne C, Jackson P. Role of community pharmacies in prevention of AIDS among injecting drug misusers: findings of a survey in England and Wales. BMJ. 1989;299:1076–1079. doi: 10.1136/bmj.299.6707.1076. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Case P, Beckett GA, Jones TS. Access to sterile syringes in Maine: pharmacy practice after the 1993 repeal of the syringe prescription law. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1998;18(suppl 1):94–101. doi: 10.1097/00042560-199802001-00017. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Valleroy LA, Weinstein B, Jones TS, Groseclose SL, Rolfs RT, Kassler WJ. Impact of increased legal access to needles and syringes on community pharmacies' needle and syringe sales—Connecticut, 1992–1993. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1995;10:73–81. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Wright-De Aguero L, Weinstein B, Jones TS, Miles J. Impact of the change in Connecticut syringe prescription laws on pharmacy sales and pharmacy managers' practices. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1998;18(suppl 1):102–110. doi: 10.1097/00042560-199802001-00018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Lurie P, Wolfe SM. Letter to Harold Varmus.Public Citizen Health Res Group. 1996:2–5.
- 13.Fenaughty AM, Cagle HH, Fisher DG, Reynolds GL. Alaskan drug users' use of pharmacies for purchasing needles. Paper presented at:APHA 126th Annual Meeting and Exhibition. November 15–18, 1998. Washington, DC.
- 14.Cagle HH, Fisher DG, Queen PJ, Des Jarlais DC. Patterns of needle procurement in Anchorage, Alaska. Paper presented at:10th International Conference on AIDS. August 7–12, 1996. Yokohama, Japan.