Needle Exchange? No Way, Orange County Supes Say

Whether it is lack of stipulation on how old needles are returned, or crime aspects related to repeated drug users in our county, the Orange County Board of Supervisors balked at the idea of an open needle exchange for drug users.

Chairman Andrew Do Wednesday was working on calling an emergency meeting Friday to seek supervisors' authorization to file a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order to block a needle exchange program scheduled to begin again on Monday.

The needles will be offered in areas of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Orange and Santa Ana. Do said he believes officials in those cities will join the county's litigation.

"They have already expressed a desire to do so," Do said.

"The program seeks to try to address a public health issue, but in addition to handing out free needles they should also have a way to dispose of used needles in a safe manner," Do said. "Their program is completely silent on that side of the coin."

Do recalled a few months ago walking around the block of the federal courthouse in Santa Ana with U.S. District Judge David O. Carter when they found three discarded syringes.

"The challenge we faced is we didn't want to handle it ourselves, but we couldn't just call the regular maintenance crew because they're not trained to dispose of hazardous materials, and once we picked it up where would we dispose of it?" Do said.

Do said for every used needle turned in the participants get up to 21 back.

"Nobody is going to use all of them up at that moment," Do said. "So they're going to use them somewhere else. How would you follow them around with a (biohazard) container to dispose of those needles safely?"

Do said he appreciates that the advocates of the program want to address the issue of communicable diseases being spread among intravenous drug users.

"I'm not saying don't help the drug users," Do said. "What I'm saying is we can't compromise the health of the public at large for the potential benefit of a few."

Supervisor Todd Spitzer said the program "is another aspect of crime out of control in Orange County. ... This is tolerance for lawlessness, which is becoming the norm not the exception and we're just getting inundated with these soft-on-crime measures ... We've got to take back our streets."

Spitzer said he supports a lawsuit to stop the program.

"I think we're going to have to look at all of our legal remedies," Spitzer said.

Spitzer argued that Orange County has seen a spike in theft and auto theft cases over the past four years that outstrips the state and Los Angeles County averages.

"And there's a direct correlation between people using drugs and stealing in order to feed their habit," Spitzer said.

Spitzer acknowledged that the spread of communicable diseases is a "public health issue that has to be addressed," but said a needle exchange program is the wrong way to address it.

Read more about the proposed program here: Needle Exchange Program Approved Across Orange County

Shutterstock Photo