St. Mary Medical Center will be hosting a community forum about Senate Bill 1159 Thursday, Aug. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The legislation would promote collaboration between pharmacies and local health departments for the purpose of preventing the spread of blood borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV among injection drug users by allowing pharmacies to sell up to ten syringes without a prescription.
“The purpose of the forum is to provide the community of Long Beach with factual information on the goals of the bill, and to hear concerns and issues as they relate to the community of Long Beach,” said Cheryl Barrit, MPIA, Long Beach Health Department Prevention Services Officer in a press release.
Along with St. Mary, the following groups organizing the event are: the Long Beach Comprehensive HIV Planning Group, the Long Beach Meth Taskforce, and the Los Angeles Drug Policy Alliance.
St. Mary Medical Center is located at 1050 Linden Avenue in Long Beach. For more information, contact Carlos Ruiz of the St. Mary C.A.R.E. Program at (562) 624-4936.
