The Eureka Reporter

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

State lawmakers on Monday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill by Assemblywoman Patty Berg that makes it easier for cities and counties to maintain needle-exchange programs that fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.

The bill, which had 32 co-authors, passed on a bipartisan 46-29 vote.

Assembly Bill 547 would eliminate a section of state law that requires cities and counties to declare a health emergency every two weeks in order to continue legally operating a needle-exchange program.

Several county health officers have said they would be more likely to initiate needle-exchange programs if Berg’s bill becomes law.

According to Humboldt County health officials, needle-exchange programs fight the spread of blood-borne diseases that threaten not just intravenous drug users, but also people whose lives are knowingly or unknowingly linked to them.

Last year, the governor vetoed a similar bill by Berg. But the measure passed Monday, unlike its predecessor, carried the support of key law-enforcement groups.

“We have built a very impressive coalition of support,” Berg said (D-Eureka). “So I hope we are sending the governor a bill that he can sign.”

The measure is backed by California’s public health officers as well as the California Peace Officers’ Association and the California Narcotic Officers’ Association.

Health officers, who are charged with protecting Californians from the spread of illness, have long argued that existing law puts a wasteful burden on local government by requiring supervisors or council members to declare a health emergency every two weeks in order to continue operating a needle-exchange program.

In California, more than 1,800 people die of AIDS every year and 1,500 new infections occur through syringe sharing among intravenous drug users, according to Berg’s office.

Another 5,000 people become infected with Hepatitis C in the same manner, the office said.

The following 14 cities and counties 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 Berg’s 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 perinatal transmission, Berg’s office said.