North coast Assemblywoman Patty Berg is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign AB 2871, which would reduce the red tape counties contend with when operating needle-exchange programs.
The measure, which would make it easier for counties to fight AIDS, has passed both houses of the Legislature and has gone to the governor's desk.
"With a few strokes of the pen, the governor can save lives and end bureaucratic waste all at the same time," said Berg (D-Eureka).
AB 2871 does away with a section of law that requires counties to declare a health emergency every two weeks to order to operate a needle exchange program. Counties would never have to declare a health emergency, and could abandon the status at any time.
Tuesday is the last day for bills to pass out of the Legislature, and the governor has a Sept. 30 deadline to sign or veto bills.
"AIDS is a crisis that doesn't go away every two weeks," Berg said. "We need to use every tool to stop its spread."
Mendocino County's Board of Supervisors routinely votes to declare the emergency every two weeks at its regular Board meetings. It's an issue that First District Supervisor Mike Delbar has made habit of pulling from the agenda to do a separate vote. Delbar consistently is the only supervisor to vote "no" every time.
Delbar was unavailable for comment by press time.
The bill has been amended from its previous version, which included language to decriminalize the possession of needles for people participating in needle-exchange programs.
In California, more than l,800 people die of AIDS every year, and 1,500 new infections occur through syringe sharing among intravenous drug users. Another 5,000 people become infected with Hepatitis C in the same manner.
Needle exchange programs protect more than just drug users, according to the health officials who support the bill. They protect the men and women who unknowingly expose themselves to this risk during sex. Preventing infections also protects the children born to these unions.
The following 14 cities and counties currently operate needle-exchange programs: the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Ventura, and the cities of Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Health officers from Butte, Inyo, Riverside, Sacramento, Siskiyou, Solano and Yolo counties have expressed interest in operating exchange programs if the Berg bill becomes law.
Injection drug users are the second-largest group at risk of HIV infection, and are the primary source of heterosexual, female and prenatal transmission.