Currently on a RPH Facebook page.. there is – once again – the discussion about selling needles/syringes..
Everyone seems to fall into one of several categories
* corporate mandates that they be sold
* require proof of insulin purchases or some other injectable
* selling only boxes of 100
* dramatically increasing the price
One person stated that a pregnant woman was purchasing them.. and had an emotional moment because of this.. I just wonder if this person would have had the same emotional moment if the pregnant woman was purchasing tobacco or alcohol ? Yes, there was a innocent life .. that would come into this world addicted to something.. what would be the affect on that little soul if the Mother is thrown into withdrawal or end up using a dirty needle and becomes infected with some nasty organism.
One person stated that someone who had purchased needles died of a drug overdose in their parking lot.. Would it make a difference if that person committed suicide as opposed to a unintentional overdose. But, have you ever notice that nearly always a death by a drug overdose is labeled as a “accidental drug overdose “.. of course determining that it was a suicide.. would not serve the war on drugs mantra very well.. in fact, some stats suggest that >50% of death by drugs are actually a suicide.
Our society keeps drumming on the fact that MJ is a “gateway drug”… but.. if stats were available… I would believe that you would find that most/all of those people abusing some substance.. started out- and continue to use – tobacco & alcohol… but you never hear about those being a “gateway drug”.
Our bureaucrats… have put in place ..laws that prohibit prescribers from “maintaining” a drug addict… There is the ability to take special training to prescribe Suboxone …but.. the prescriber is limited to no more than 100 pts in a practice. Do the numbers on the county that you live in.. I did .. presuming 5% of the population is abusing a substance.. there is potentially 2800 people in my county and the last I knew.. there was ONE DOCTOR authorized to prescribe Suboxone..
Then there is the issue of a clean needle is better than a dirty needle and the potential cost to our society.. to treat a abuser who picks up a nasty organism.
Who believes that not selling needle/syringe to addict/abuser is going to stop them? Who believes that if they don’t get a needle/syringe and ends up going into withdrawal.. will help convince them that they need to get their act together ?
Lets put things into perspective… if a known diabetic comes to purchase a hand full of candy bars or some other high sugar product.. would you refuse to sell them ? You know that could throw them into a diabetic coma.. and will do little to help them keep their A1c in proper range.
Would you refuse to sell alcohol to a person that you know drinks excessively… not necessarily a full blown alcoholic… nor appears “drunk” in front of you. Recently stats were released that people who are labeled as “excessive drinkers” .. that 88 K die every year because of their drinking…. if you throw in the people labeled as a “alcoholic” and that number of deaths climbs to 140 K… and actually that is ~ 4 times the number that is normally tossed out… for people dying of a drug overdose …
Why do we have different standards for OTC products that we can legally sell and the people who we will sell them to ? Are some of us being hypocritical ?
Filed under: General Problems
Steve as always you are “right on the money” …I have a family member who takes a compound medication that comes from an outside laboratory. Purchasing syringes from our local pharmacy was near impossible in Florida. Even showing the prescription label and letter from the physician doesn’t convince some pharmacists. Ended up, it’s just easier to mail order the syringes online.
I have been of the opinion to let them have what they want. But, from the above replies, I am changing my mind. I don’t want the druggies coming into my store or it being known they can get needles at my store.
Isn’t it amazing how “Grandma” doesn’t care about what insulin syringes she gets… any of them will do… ???
I admit I handle each situation on a case by case basis, and sometimes my own hormonal levels might influence my decision. When I am obviously lied to, “they are for my grandma, and no I don’t know what type of insulin she uses, and she gets it at another pharmacy” I am tempted to decline the sell. My main issue is not with the use, but with the probable lying. We also commonly find empty boxes on the shelves where merchandise has been procured outside the normal legal transaction channels soon after these types of encounters. Not selling in these circumstances in my opinion deters shrink.
If you consistently refuse to dispense needles to addicts, usually they quit telling their friends you dispense and your clientele improves and makes your other customers less uncomfortable in you store. Also, you may find less needles in your parking lot… Im all for clean needle exchange programs but they need to be health department based.