Poll
Finds
Overwhelming
Majority
of
Californians
Support
Needle
Exchange
--
Support
Spans
Ethnic,
Geographic
and
Political
Lines
8/27/99
As legislation providing legal protection to needle exchange programs operating in the state of California headed to the Governor's desk yesterday (8/26), a survey conducted by the Field Institute found that nearly 70% of Californians favor needle exchange, with majorities cutting across ethnic, geographic and political lines. AB 518, sponsored by Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, passed the Senate by a vote of 21-18 on Tuesday, and is now on Gov. Davis' desk, awaiting his signature or veto. According to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (http://www.sfaf.org), 71% of non-Hispanic whites and 65% of Latinos surveyed said they favor needle exchange programs. While seventy-seven 77% of African-Americans and 65% of Asian Americans/others who responded to the survey said they favor needle exchange programs, the number of respondents for these two ethnic groups was not large enough to make statistically valid conclusions. Support for needle exchange programs was solid across geographic regions of the state, including the more traditionally conservative regions of Orange County, San Diego and Inland Empire where, as a group, 60% of respondents said they favor exchange programs. Support was highest in the Bay Area (83%); followed by Los Angeles (72%), North Coast/Sierra (68%) and Central Valley (65%). The survey results also show support by a strong majority of registered voters in both political parties and among independent voters, as well as those who said they were likely to vote in 2000, including 79% of Democrats and 75% of independents/others. The data also show that fifty-four 54% of Republicans and 69% of "likely voters in 2000" overall said they favor needle exchange programs. Individuals who identified their political ideology as "moderately conservative" supported needle exchange programs by 62%, those who said they were "middle-of-the-road" responded in favor 75% of the time, while those who described themselves as either "moderately liberal" or "strongly liberal" favored needle exchange programs by more than 80%. A surprisingly strong 38% of those who identified themselves as "strongly conservative" also favor exchange programs. Gustavo Suarez, Communications Director for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, told the Week Online, "Given the across-the-board support for needle exchange that this survey shows, if Gov. Davis now vetoes this bill, it will clearly be a sign that this is no longer about California politics." The Field Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research organization devoted to the study of public opinion and behavior on social and political issues. The survey was completed among a representative sample of 1,010 California adults by telephone either in English or Spanish between August 16-22, 1999. According to statistical theory, 95% of the time the results from the overall sample would have a +/- error range of 3.2%. ACTION ALERT: Gov. Davis' staff has said privately that he is likely to veto AB 518, but at this point Davis has not yet taken a public position on it. DEATH BY INFECTIOUS DISEASE SHOULD NOT BE A PUNISHMENT FOR DRUG USE. A VETO OF AB 518, AS THE WILL KILL MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN BY INCREASING THE SPREAD OF AIDS AND HEPATITIS THROUGHOUT CALIFORNIA AND OUR NATION. Please call Gov. Davis NOW and urge him to sign AB 518! The Governor's phone number is (916) 445-2841; press "2" to speak with a staff member. (If you are calling after office hours, you can press "2" to leave a message, including your opinion and your zip code.) The following is a sample phone script, from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation: "I am calling in strong support of AB 518, which would provide clear legal protection to localities that choose to implement needle exchange programs. Science shows that needle exchange decreases the spread of HIV, hepatitis, and other diseases without increasing drug use. The Governor should sign AB 518 into law. Needle exchange saves lives and is a critical public health tool in the fight against AIDS and other diseases." Last week, 21 members of California's Congressional delegation sent a letter to Davis, urging him to support AB 518 (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/104.html#caldelegation). Please call Gov. Davis and help to pass this historic law! The following are some of the national organizations in the US that have adopted positions favoring needle exchange. Visit http://www.projectsero.org/endorse.shtml for a listing with links to the full text of these and other statements.
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