State Update

Public Health and Safety Bills Advance on Beacon Hill

While most attention was focused on the seemingly endless efforts to pass a health access bill (see related article), measures supported by the MMS that would benefit the public health have advanced. Three significant bills were approved by the House and sent to the Senate, while two bills passed by the Senate await consideration by the House.

The House-passed measures relate to hypodermic needles and syringes, seat belts, and mercury:

• Massachusetts is now one of only three states that requires a physician’s prescription to purchase hypodermic needles and syringes, and criminalizes their possession without such authorization. House Bill 4176, passed by a 115–37 vote in the House, would allow purchases by individuals 18 years of age or older. MMS testimony in favor of the bill noted that more than one-third of all HIV/AIDS cases and about half of the nearly 110,000 cases of hepatitis C in Massachusetts stem from injection drug users reusing “dirty needles.” The bill would need a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate to override an anticipated veto by Governor Romney.
• While seat belt use is “mandatory” under existing law, police may only stop vehicles and cite offenders when the vehicle has been stopped for “a violation of the motor vehicle laws or some other offense.” House Bill 229 would allow for fuller enforcement of the law. The House passed the measure by a slim 76-74 vote margin in January. The MMS noted that Massachusetts ranks 48th among the states in driver seat belt usage.
• On February 2, the House unanimously approved House Bill 4670, which would phase out the sale of mercury-containing thermostats, instruments, measuring devices, and switches and relays. Other mercury-containing products would also be banned and replaced by safer alternatives. While the MMS supported this legislation, the Society is working closely with the Massachusetts Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to ensure that vaccines containing trace levels of mercury would be exempt from the law.

The Senate-passed bills relate to methamphetamine and motorcycle helmets:

• Many states have been seeking new ways to limit the production of methamphetamine, an illegal drug clandestinely manufactured from legal substances, including pseudoephedrine. Senate Bill 2183, supported by the MMS, would prohibit the nonprescription sale or distribution of products with more than nine grams of pseudoephedrine per transaction. It would also require that such items be dispensed from locked cabinets.
• This year, Senate Bill 1344, a measure to repeal the state’s motorcycle helmet law for adults 21 years of age or older, reached the Senate floor. After a contentious debate, the bill was modified to require that helmet-less cyclists would have to complete a motorcycle safety course or have at least six years of licensed motorcyclist experience. It also would require operators to carry health insurance with at least $50,000 of medical benefits coverage. The MMS will oppose the measure in the House.

– Steve Shestakofsky