Pharmacy Student Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs About Selling Syringes to Injection Drug Users

OBJECTIVE To explore pharmacy school education and pharmacy students' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), drug use, and syringe sales to injection drug users (IDUs). DESIGN Qualitative study of a convenience sample of pharmacy school students. SETTING A pharmacy school in the southeastern United States. INTERVENTION Two focus groups and nine in-depth interviews were conducted about HIV/AIDS education and counseling, syringe sales to possible IDUs, and related pharmacy school education. PARTICIPANTS 19 Doctor of Pharmacy students, including 88 students in their third professional year and 11 in their fourth professional year. RESULTS Most participants believed that they would benefit from more class time on HIV/AIDS topics, including AIDS treatment medications and HIV prevention. Most participants believed that the laws and regulations governing syringe sales in their state were vague, leaving syringe sale decisions to pharmacists' discretion. Nine study participants supported selling syringes to possible IDUs, five opposed it, and five were undecided or ambivalent. Classroom education focused on addiction to prescription drugs, with limited attention to illicit drug use. CONCLUSION Pharmacy students have divided opinions about selling syringes to IDUs. To prepare students for helping their patients with drug-use problems, pharmacy schools should increase training about HIV/AIDS and addiction. Policy makers should consider changing laws and regulations of syringe sales to recognize prevention of blood-borne infections as a legitimate medical purpose for selling syringes to IDUs.