“Hello, may I help you?”

“Hello… my boyfriend is a heroin addict.”

Not exactly the sort of greeting one expects after picking up the telephone.

“OK.”

“Yeah, I was wondering if you could sell him like one needle. I’m worried about him and I don’t want him to get AIDS or something like that.”

“Um, well, we can’t sell you just one syringe. They come in packs of 10. I don’t have any way of selling you just one.”

“Oh. Really.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry.”

“Well, how much are they?”

“They’re about $2.50 or so for ten.”

“Oh. He can’t afford that.” At this point I’m thinking WHAT THE HELL? You can buy HEROIN but you can’t afford $2.50 for some freakin’ syringes?!?! Think of it as an investment in the future, FFS!

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I wish I could help you.” Where help doesn’t necessarily mean “Get you a needle so your SO can shoot up.”

“Well… Do you know where I can get him one?”

“Um, you could try a hospital. Maybe they can give you one.”

“Oh!” she says brightly. “I’ll try that. Thanks!”

*click*

It seems that Massachusetts does not have a clean needle program, and I’m fairly certain that NH doesn’t either, since hypodermic needles require a prescription in that state. I guess she really was SOL. I wonder what happened.

Regular readers already know my feelings about selling needles OTC.