Burris S, Finucane D, Gallagher H, Grace J
Temple Law School, Philadelphia, PA 19122, USA.
Am J Public Health. 1996 Aug;86(8):1161-6. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.8_pt_1.1161.
This study sought to identify the strategies used by syringe exchange programs to establish their legality.
Statutes, court decisions, published studies of exchange programs, and news stories were reviewed, and telephone interviews were conducted with syringe exchange personnel.
Twenty-seven exchanges have been authorized by amendments to or judicial interpretations of state drug laws or by administrative action under such laws, or operate in a state that has no laws regulating needles. At least 13 programs operate under claims of legality based on local interpretations of state law, principally public health law. The remaining syringe exchanges operate without a claim of legality.
The deployment of syringe exchanges has been hindered by concerns about their legal status. This study shows that the applicability of drug laws to syringe exchange is open to dispute, and that local public health authorities may under some circumstances rely on their own legal authority to fund or operate syringe exchange programs.
本研究旨在确定注射器交换项目用于确立其合法性的策略。
对法规、法院判决、已发表的关于交换项目的研究以及新闻报道进行了审查,并对注射器交换项目工作人员进行了电话访谈。
27个交换项目已通过州毒品法律的修正案或司法解释,或根据此类法律采取的行政行动获得授权,或者在没有管制针头法律的州开展业务。至少有13个项目基于对州法律(主要是公共卫生法)的地方法理解释,在合法性主张下运营。其余的注射器交换项目在没有合法性主张的情况下运作。
对注射器交换项目法律地位的担忧阻碍了其部署。本研究表明,毒品法律对注射器交换的适用性存在争议,并且在某些情况下,地方公共卫生当局可能依靠自身的法律权威来资助或运营注射器交换项目。