This article integrates historical medical literature and current research to demonstrate the full extent of the harm caused by limiting availability of sterile syringes and the importance of policies providing access to sterile syringes as part of efforts to fight present and future epidemics. The article provides a theoretical framework for understanding the connection between syringe laws and disease, including a discussion of the harm reduction model. It surveys the legal developments that surround drug-related activities, particularly laws criminalizing the possession of sterile syringes, and provides an extensive historical analysis of the connection between syringe laws and disease. The article concludes that a thorough understanding of the damage created by sterile syringe restrictions is crucial to the development of effective disease prevention policies. Notes, table