A survey of pharmacies in the Lancaster area indicate that, despite their current availability without a prescription, sales are slow.
The cost is about $2.50 a dozen, around 20 cents each. Quantities of a hundred can be obtained for about $15, or 15 cents each.
Until September, the purchase of syringes was not permitted without a prescription. After a torturous five-year application effort, the state regulation was altered to permit the sale to anyone without identification or age requirements. The only stipulation is that the syringes by stored in the pharmacy area. Customers must request them rather than picking them up from a shelf.
The regulation was changed with the intent of reducing the spread of HIV / AIDS, hepatitis, and other diseases through the sharing of needles by addicts. Pennsylvania had been among less than a handful of states to yet require prescriptions.
Since HIV/AIDS is also spread through sexual activity, eliminating the sharing of syringes indirectly benefits the general public.
With a reported minimum of 5,000 heroin addicts in the Lancaster area, syringes should be in high demand, with a estimated market of at least 20,000 daily, and perhaps twice that much.
