This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate

ALBANY — People found in possession of hypodermic needles and syringes may no longer risk arrest or jail time in New York under a bill that passed the state Legislature this week.

The legislation, which now heads to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s desk for approval or veto, could end the decade-plus fight by public health advocates and drug users who say the state’s criminalization of syringe possession is at odds with the fact that it is legal to buy them from authorized providers and contradicts efforts by the state's own Department of Health to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis infections among injection drug users and the public at large.

“While syringe access programs have been successfully operating in New York state for decades, syringe possession was never removed from our state’s penal code,” said state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a sponsor of the bill. “This unfortunate legal ambiguity has deterred countless New Yorkers struggling with substance use from accessing harm reduction services or resulted in the unnecessary incarceration of New Yorkers participating in the program.”

While the state funds the distribution of millions of syringes a year in an effort to combat needle-sharing, police in some jurisdictions continue to arrest thousands of people each year for possession, according to a justification attached to the bill.

State-authorized syringe exchange programs that provide drug users with clean needles and supplies have long argued that these arrests deter people from their services. In addition to sterile drug equipment, many of them also provide HIV and hepatitis C testing, referrals to care and addiction treatment programs and education on how to use and dispose of drugs safely.

The legislation passed this week would decriminalize possession of both unused syringes and syringes with trace amounts of illegal substances, which can currently land someone up to $1,000 in fines or a year in jail.

“At long last this day has come and — for the first time in a very long time — I feel like the Legislature is showing us that they believe people who use drugs deserve compassion and respect and not criminalization,” said Asia Betancourt, who works with VOCAL-NY, a grassroots group working to end the war on drugs. “Passing this bill will save countless lives, and it is a much needed step in the right direction.”

The legislation, which was sponsored by Rivera and Assemblymember Dick Gottfried, goes a step further by making it easier for people to get syringes in the first place. 

State law currently allows licensed pharmacies and health care providers to sell or furnish up to 10 hypodermic needles or syringes at a time to anyone 18 and up, but they are not allowed to advertise that they’re available and must keep them out of sight of customers and patients — making it virtually impossible for drug users to know who stocks them and who doesn’t.

The new measure would eliminate the cap on how many can be provided at a time and would also allow providers to begin advertising the supplies.

In a statement issued Friday morning, the Legal Action Center noted that the decriminalization bill is one of several to pass this session that’s expected to help with the ongoing overdose epidemic. Others include a bill that protects opioid settlement payouts from being used for anything other than addiction-related services, a bill requiring medication-assisted treatment for incarcerated individuals battling addiction, and a bill banning prior authorization for addiction treatment for New Yorkers on Medicaid.

“This bill represents the final component of a comprehensive harm reduction effort that will encourage more people to access syringe service programs, which are a critical pathway toward health and recovery for people who use drugs,” said Tracie Gardner, vice president of policy advocacy for the center. “This bill will also help reduce the spread of infectious disease and discarded syringes in communities, enhancing public health statewide.”

Bethany Bump writes about all things health, including state and local health policy, addiction and mental health for the Times Union. She has previously covered education, business and local governments, and won awards for her coverage of health care and addiction issues. Bump joined the Times Union in 2015, after a four-year stretch at The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, N.Y. She graduated from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in 2011, with a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science. Contact her at 518-454-5387, bbump@timesunion.com or on Twitter @bethanybump.