CLEAN NEEDLE PROGRAM GETS THUMBS-UP

LAKEPORT -- A legal needle exchange program is closer to becoming a
reality after the Lake County Board of Supervisors authorized such a
program Tuesday. The vote was unanimous, with supervisor Anthony
Farrington absent.

The board adopted a resolution that authorizes a clean needle and
syringe exchange program under Assembly Bill 547, signed into law
Jan. 1, 2006. In 2000, AB 136 set up a provision that protected
government organizations and employees from criminal prosecution for
giving hypodermic needles to injection drug users during a planned
exchange, provided that a state of health emergency was declared
first. AB 547 streamlined the needle exchange process by removing the
requirement that a state of emergency be declared.

"This will protect the future, not just the present, but the future
of Lake County residents," Glenhaven resident Jeff Ott said. Ott told
the board that he had used injection drugs for 11 years, and was
lucky to not be infected with hepatitis C or the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV). He was one of eight speakers who came
forward in favor of authorizing the needle exchange.

"I am not intending for this to be a platform to condone or condemn
drug use or the laws pertaining to it," Lake County Public Health
director Jim Brown told the board. "It is our feeling that an SEP
(syringe exchange program) would be an effective measure to gain some
control over and reduce the spread of HIV, AIDS (acquired immune
deficiency syndrome) and hepatitis C in the county."

The speakers and approximately 50 audience members wore pins with red
and yellow ribbons to symbolize HIV and hepatitis C. A small syringe
was attached to the ribbons, without an actual needle under each orange cap.

"What if a child was stuck with a needle on a playground? What would
it cost to take care of that child for the rest of its life, as
opposed to the cost of prevention," Mendocino Community Health Clinic
board chairman Tom Jordan said.

Supervisor Rob Brown noted that possession of a hypodermic needle is
a misdemeanor. He voted in favor of the resolution supporting the
exchange after expressing his misgivings about his vote.

"I have to look at it from the perspective of the facts, and I'm
still conflicted, unfortunately, because I have not heard from law
enforcement," supervisor Rob Brown said.

"If this just saves one person from getting accidentally stuck, if
this stops one child or one police officer from accidentally being
stuck because needles are lying around, then we've done right thing,"
supervisor Jeff Smith said.

Public health director Jim Brown said he will do research in the next
60 days into how to implement the exchange. "I don't anticipate that
public health will do a syringe exchange, but we're going to see if
we can possibly interest clinics or someone else who might be
interested in providing those services," he said.