Objective: To examine pharmacists' attitudes and obstacles to syringe sales to IDUs without prescriptions in Rhode Island, around the time that such sales became legal in the state.
Design: Self-administered written survey.
Setting: Rhode Island.
Participants: 400 randomly selected pharmacist members of the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association.
Main outcome measures: Responses to survey items.
Results: Of the 400 pharmacists contacted, 131 (33%) completed and returned the survey; of these, 101 (77%) were pharmacists who worked in stores that provided direct nonprescription syringe sales to the public. The majority of these 101 pharmacists were willing to sell syringes to a suspected IDU without a prescription (65%), favored providing free sharps containers for disposal (68%), and supported providing pamphlets on safer injection practices (88%). Willingness to sell syringes to IDUs without a prescription was significantly correlated with various beliefs about possible consequences of sales.
Conclusion: The high level of support for nonprescription syringe sales to IDUs is promising. The correlation between the willingness to sell syringes to IDUs without a prescription and various beliefs suggests that future educational interventions might encourage pharmacists to sell syringes to this population without a prescription to decrease HIV and hepatitis transmission.