Harm
Reduction:
San
Diego
Reinstates
Needle
Exchange
Program
7/14/06
https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/444/san-diego-needle-exchange.shtml
The city of San Diego Wednesday
rejoined the ranks of cities offering needle exchange programs as a public
health service when the city council voted to reinstate the program.
It had been dropped because of waning political support a year ago, but
Wednesday it was re-approved on a 6-1 vote.
Needle exchanges were first
approved in November 2001 and the program was launched in July 2002.
It operated out of two centers, one in the East Village and one in North
Park. During its operation, the program collected nearly 350,000
dirty needles and distributed more than 285,000 clean ones.
But until state law changed
this year, cities or counties had to declare a public health emergency
every two weeks to keep the programs operating. A year ago this month,
the two-week vote failed, and the program was shut down.
Needle exchange programs
are widely recognized to reduce the spread of diseases such as HIV and
Hepatitis C by reducing the sharing of syringes. But some opponents
accuse them of promoting or facilitating drug use.
Luana Stines, a pastor who
addressed the council was one of them. "They don't need another needle,"
she said. "They need direction." Better to spend the money
on faith-based counseling, she suggested.
No taxpayer funds are being
used in San Diego. Alliance Healthcare, a local nonprofit that ran
the program, has pledged $386,400 to fund it for the next two years.
-- END --
|
Issue #444
-- 7/14/06
Editorial:
Not
Playing
by
the
Rules,
Not
Making
Sense
|
Appeal/Book
Offer:
Race
to
Incarcerate,
by
Marc
Mauer
|
Feature:
Judge
Throws
Out
Part
of
Alaska
Marijuana
Recriminalization
Law,
Up
to
An
Ounce
is
Now
Legal
At
Home
|
Feature:
Methamphetamine
as
Child
Abuse
Laws
Gain
Ground,
But
Do
They
Help
or
Hurt?
|
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Story
|
Law
Enforcement:
Goose
Creek
Agrees
to
Pay
Up,
Change
Ways
in
Settlement
of
Notorious
High
School
Drug
Raid
Case
|
Sentencing:
California
Governor
Signs
Bill
Amending
Proposition
36,
Is
Immediately
Sued
|
Search
and
Seizure:
Vermont
Judge
Says
State
Constitution
Provides
Protection
Even
if
Federal
Doesn't
|
Sentencing:
Justice
Kennedy
Lashes
Out
at
Harsh
Prison
Terms
|
Harm
Reduction:
San
Diego
Reinstates
Needle
Exchange
Program
|
First
Amendment:
New
Michigan
Law
Bans
Methamphetamine
Recipes
on
Internet
|
Middle
East:
US
Troops,
Iraqi
Police
Seize
Marijuana
Plants
|
Web
Scan:
Sentencing
Project
and
Others
Report
to
UN
Human
Rights
Committee,
CURE
on
Prisons
in
OAS
|
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
|
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
|
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
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