YOLO'S NEEDLE EXCHANGE PROGRAM FLAWED

Your recent praise of Yolo County is appropriate, but not for our
needle "exchange" program.

When we recently evaluated this program, we were provided with some
startling figures. While The Bee may support the concept of a needle
exchange program, I couldn't support the program in Yolo County based
on the information provided in the evaluation.

Here is what we know. A year ago, Yolo County invested $100,000 in a
needle exchange program with the goal of reducing disease
transmission and keeping dirty needles off the streets. More than
61,000 needles were passed out to about 150 people participating in
this program. That is an average of more than 400 needles per
participant. Shockingly, 11,253 of those needles were not returned.

Despite my objections to using taxpayer dollars to help facilitate
people injecting poison into their bodies, my main concern is the
"exchange" of needles and their disposal. An "exchange" would lead
the reader to believe that if you bring in one dirty needle, you get
one clean one. Not so. Our vendors will give a "customer" up to 10
needles for just one dirty one. This policy provides little incentive
for drug users to safely dispose of dirty needles. If needles were
exchanged 1-to-1, perhaps Yolo County wouldn't be responsible for
11,253 additional dirty needles on the street.

I'll concede that needle exchange programs may decrease the risk of
hepatitis C and HIV transmission among intravenous drug users.
However, the consequence of our flawed program is an increased risk
to pets, children or anyone who may come into contact with one of our
unaccounted-for needles.

The needle exchange program prioritizes the "safety" of 150 people
who choose to inject illegal drugs, while imposing a greater risk to
law-abiding citizens in Yolo County. That's $100,000 of taxpayer
money spent supporting the drug habit of 150 people. I believe there
is a wiser alternative. Spending this money on drug counseling, youth
dental care or cleaning up our parks would be a better use of the
public resources.

While Yolo County has much to be proud of, we should not claim the
needle exchange program as a success.