SELF-STYLED CRIMINAL-JUSTICE EXPERT: Kerry Healey won’t join tough-guy DAs who support clean needles.

In essence it is a common-sense move. Experts have convincingly demonstrated that the decriminalization of needle possession successfully curtails the spread of HIV and hepatitis-C infections. Moreover, the legislative action comes at a particularly relevant moment in the calendar.

“This month marks the 25th year since AIDS was first identified,” said Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. “This is the single-most important prevention legislation in the last ten years. This program will save lives, reduce new infections, and save the Commonwealth millions of dollars in health-care costs over the next several years.”

The action by the legislature means that Massachusetts is poised — at last — to join the 21st century. At the moment, it is the only New England state not to have a legal needle provision. And it is only one of three states nationwide where possession of needles without a doctor’s prescription is a crime.

Doing the right thing, the tough-minded thing, the necessary thing is not an everyday occurrence at the State House. When it happens, we should join in and applaud.

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Now the bad news: Republican governor Mitt Romney has said he will veto the legislation. That, of course, comes as a surprise to few. The man who ran as a moderate, and hoodwinked voters by doing so, has shown his true colors by reinventing himself as a right-wing Republican in hopes of winning the White House. Instead of furthering the cause of AIDS prevention and education by signing the bill and embracing the concept that the broadest public good is best served by such a move, Romney debases his office and the very idea of public service by playing gutter politics with the issue. And, by doing so, he gives his presumptive heir apparent, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a tin drum on which to beat.

To watch Healey, who stretches credulity by basing her claims to executive competency on her supposed expertise on matters of criminal justice, is indeed disheartening. That Romney should know better and doesn’t act differently is a fact of political life. But Healey’s willingness to court narrow political gain rather than save lives is disgraceful. Protesters who chanted “Stepford wives for dirty needles” when Healey made her stand against the bill while surrounded by concerned mothers were right on target. In fact, they were too kind.

Don’t worry; we’re not going to argue against motherhood in this editorial. And no one in their right mind would argue that drug use, drug abuse, or drug addiction are good things. But even in the face of public-education campaigns, state and federal “wars” on drugs, and mankind’s innate sense of self-preservation, drug use and addiction persist. The knowledge that drug use is a scourge has not — and will not — make it go away. To argue otherwise is too bury one’s head in the sand. But that is what Healey wants us to do.

The district attorneys of Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, and Norfolk Counties — all of whom strike tough-on-crime profiles — support the measure because they know that it will have no adverse health, safety, or criminal consequences. The good will outweigh the bad. If the self-styled tough guys who are on the frontline of the criminal-justice system support needle legalization, what’s Healey worried about? The answer is as depressing as it is simple: votes. To argue otherwise in a national political climate that is so clearly conservative is to defy logic.

According to AIDS Action, 39 percent of all people living with HIV/AIDS in Massachusetts have a needle-related infection — either due to the use of a dirty needle directly, or through sexual contact with someone who has contracted HIV in that way. Every day that there is a delay in putting the needle legislation into effect, more people risk — and succumb — to infection. This is not about playing politics; this is about playing with life and death.

Romney is a lost cause. At the moment, Healey appears to be one as well. That doesn’t mean she should be let off the hook. After all, there is a chance she will be elected governor. All three Democrats on the ballot support legalized needles. The thought of saving lives has not — so far — swayed the lieutenant governor. Maybe the thought of future votes will. E-mail Healey at communications@healeycommittee.com  and tell her that she missed an opportunity to make a difference.