"The position of the governor and the lieutenant governor is we don't want to do anything to that facilitates illegal drug use," a Romney spokesperson said. "If you allow addicts easy access to the tools of the trade, you are facilitating illegal drug use."

Needle-sharing causes an estimated 39 percent of HIV cases in Massachusetts. Some law-enforcement officials -- notably Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley, Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, and the Boston Police Department -- have recently joined health experts in calling for legal, over-the-counter sales of needles.

Coakley noted that a needle-exchange program established in Cambridge in the mid-1990s has not caused any increase in drug-related crime. State health officials said HIV rates declined in states that allowed easier access to clean needles.

State Sen. Robert O'Leary (D-Barnstable) and other lawmakers have introduced legislation to loosen the current rules on needle sales. Romney's spokesperson would not say if the governor would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

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