The Times-Standard
Eureka Times Standard

August 24, 2005

The full state Senate has approved Assemblywoman Patty Berg’s needle-exchange bill.

Assembly Bill 547 needs a concurrence vote in the Assembly before heading to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The full Assembly previously supported the bill with slightly different language.

The bill would eliminate a section of state law that requires cities and counties to declare a health emergency every two weeks in order to operate a needle-exchange program.

Humboldt County has had a needle-exchange program for years despite the requirement. But Humboldt County Public Health Officer Dr. Ann Lindsay said that, while the law will just streamline an existing program here, in other counties it may make it possible. She said colleagues in eight other counties have told her they’d be willing to run a needle-exchange program if they weren’t required to declare a state of emergency every two weeks.

Humboldt County has among the state’s highest rates of many alcohol and drug problems, including overdose deaths and alcohol- and drug-related hospitalizations. While the rate of AIDS is lower than elsewhere in the state, the county has a high rate of Hepatitis C, also transmitted through intravenous drug use.

Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill. But Berg has since modified the bill’s language. This year, the third time she’s authored a bill on this subject, she’s received the backing of law enforcement agencies that previously opposed it.

”This bill is about saving lives and protecting communities from disease,” Berg said. “It was in everyone’s interest that we find common ground. And I’m very happy that we did.”

Health officers have long argued that existing law put a wasteful burden on local government.

”AIDS and hepatitis don’t expire every two weeks,” Berg said. “Neither should the programs that slow their spread.”

The senate approved the bill on a 24-15 vote.