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Indybay Feature

Santa Cruz Needle Exchange Numbers In: 170,373 Collected, 165,712 Dispensed

by Drug War News
The Santa Cruz needle exchange reports in the last year it has taken in more needles than it has given out. The Health Services Agency (HSA) in Santa Cruz County submitted its annual Syringe Services Program (SSP) report. From April 30, 2013 to February 28, 2014 the SSP served 876 unduplicated clients. During that period they collected 170,373 used syringes and dispensed 165,712 sterile syringes.
syringe_services_report.pdf_600_.jpg
The report also lists statistics for HIV and Hepatitis infection, information on the funding of the program, and future recommendations from the program advisory group.

Read the whole report in the attached Board of Supervisors agenda packet for the April 15 meeting, where the recommendations will be considered.
§SSP program description
by Drug War News
sspprogdescrip.pdf_600_.jpg
Program Description

Effective April 30, 2013 the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency (HSA) began administering the Syringe Services Program (SSP). The primary goal of the SSP is to work in partnership with the community to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases associated with injection drug use and to address the community's concern regarding improperly discarded syringes. http://www.santacruzhealth.org/phealth/2ssp.htm

§Clarification: 493 pounds of sharps waste collected in kiosks
by Drug War News
The waste total collected by SSP is higher than the syringe exchange count. The SSP also reported that 493 pounds of sharps waste was collected in county clinic kiosks, which is IN ADDITION to the 170,373 syringes collected by the SSP through a 1 to 1 exchange.
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by Trever
The check's in the mail, OJ was innocent, Michael Jackson wasn't a pedophile, and Supermodels are too pretty to fart.
by Politico
If Trever thinks that questioning the county's own statistics and health officials is a viable political strategy that will convince the board of supes to change course on the NE, well, all power to him, but change will not come that way. You will just sound like a conspiracy nut job or a troll if you question their numbers when you address them. I guess Trever is just trying to rally the less discerning members of his brood by making such a comment?

I don't know if Trever is much of a politico, but county staff is always backed up, trusted, and lauded by the elected.

The ones we should be suspicious of are the folks from Take Back Santa Cruz and the Clean Team who say they are finding all these needles. I don't believe THEIR numbers. I think they are planting needle waste intentionally in a warped effort to rid the town of drug users.
by Slim
Analicia Cube of Take Back Santa Cruz just spoke at the county supes meeting and said they would be happy to volunteer to label SSP syringes with numbers that could identify where they came from, but the nurse who spoke after her pointed out that it would be totally unacceptable to do that and break the seal of the sterile packaging of the syringe.

Analicia is always out of her league when she does her own thinking, and so is TBSC.
by anarcyst
Clearly, child molesters from Take Back Santa Cruz are more trustworthy with needle facts..

http://www.ksbw.com/news/central-california/santa-cruz/prosecutors-santa-cruz-surfer-instructor-dylan-greiner-had-2-victims/23593318

Just don't trust them with your kids.
by Robert Norse
QUESTION AUTHORITY--OBVIOUSLY & DEMAND PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY
Not that I'm tooting a horn for TBSC, but in general it's unhealthy to lean too heavily on official government stories--as probably most readers of this site agree. It's easy to start waving them around authoritatively when they support your position, but maintaining a persistent skepticism is the best course.

I was at the Supes meeting. Long line of speakers . A passionate bunch of TBSC and Clean Team supporters along with their allies Zack ("once a cop always a cop") Friend, and Greg "(eh?") Caput. Friend, the Chairman, took a nasty page from Mayor Lynn Robinson's book and allowed only two minutes per speaker (something not often done at the Supervisors, in my limited experience). Robinson and Councilmean Posner were also there and spoke--along with Pleich.

Legitimate issues raised by TBSC (though done to press their Drug War agenda) was the failure of the "Advisory" group presenting its report to allow well-announced public input (as far as I know).

THE BOOGEYMAN IN THE BEDROOM
Unsupported but oft-ballyhooed paranoia was given the usual credibility by TBSC, the Board, Steve Pleich, and almost every speaker. Among the "Public Safety" fraudulent fantasies were the notions that discarded needles are (a) new, (b) any more of a threat than discarded glass or rusty nails, and (c) any real HIV or Hep C danger once the blood has dried and the needles are old. The hysteria-mongers at TBSC have presented no data on any of these issues that challenges established facts, as far as I know. Caution: I have a bias, have not researched the situation thoroughly, and tend to pack with lefties myself.

Still it seems like part of the same rush to pack with power (the power this time coming from TBSC) Public Safety bullshit that sells so well at election time and turns our attention away from banks, corporation, real estate profiteers, Drug War insanity, prison and police abuse, income inequality, the increased militarization of the Santa Cruz community (curfews, last year's host of laws criminalizing the poor, etc.).

CHALLENGING THE BASIC CLAIM THAT NEEDLE EXCHANGE EXPANDS IMPROPER NEEDLE DISPOSAL
One interesting claim of the Health Dept. and not yet effectively disputed byTBSC was that there were an additional 270,000 syringes left at the disposal kiosks in Watsonville and Santa Cruz. That's on top of the 170,000+ returned to Needle Exchange (in excess of those they sasid they'd given out). Of course, neither the Supes, nor TBSC questioned why more kiosks haven't been set up and more Sharps Containers distributed in the last year--if there's such paranoia about "needle sticks".

County Health and other speakers also presented the usual sats contrasting cities without needle exchange to those with it in terms of discarded needles--which was the main concern and terrorpoint that TBSC was using to mobilize its troops.

BLAMING THE HOUSELESS BUMS
The one parent who came up and tearfully spoke of the mental anguish she and her daughter went through (thanks TBSC!) when the child stepped on a needle, didn't mention whether there was any illness outcome (presumably not or we'd have TBSC vigilantes summarily executing homeless campers). That's hyperbole, of course, but the whole TBSC agenda has been an anti-homeless one with their loiter-in's, attacks on panhandlers, puppet sock Pamela Comstock at Council supporting new harsh restrictions on public spaces, and description of campers as criminals for "illegal camping" (earth to Analicia: all camping is illegal in city limits unless in a private backyard).

Another point made by a West Side pharmacist was that its mostly housed people who buy the syringes. There was common agreement that pharmacists should be required to provide sharps containers. Analicia Cube proposed relocating disposal kiosks (or perhaps locating more) next to pharmacies or perhaps in them.

THE COLOR-CODING DEMAND
Needle exchange supporters denounced TBSC's demand for color-coding Exchange syringes so they could be "tracked" as costly, illegal, and unhealthy (got to open the sterile packages, they said). Cube claimed it was being done in some city--wasn't clear where. But the real issue isTBSC wants to show it's Needle Exchange that is resulting in a lion's share of the needles found outside. Part of that is founded on a healthy distrust for self-promoting County Health; another part is their Drug War agenda--which wants to stop marijuana dispensaries, move Needle Exchange away from residential neighborhood (even though no evidence was provided of incerased needle disposal or crime in the Barson St. area during its years of operation). County Health claimed no vendors in the U.S. sell color coded needles--only one in the UK, and it triples the cost. Analicia Cube of TBSC offered to send in volunteers to do the coding.

PANDERING TO FEAR: FURTHER RESTRICTIONS IN STORE FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE
The Supes gave instruction to County Health or their syringe advisory folks to split the baby, again pandering to the undocumented and unchallenged mythology of the Needle Menace. The instructions were to come back on June 2nd with a proposals to limit anything other than strict 1-1 to Emeline and Watsonville sites, reduce the Emeline exchange to 2 days a week, allow for mobile exchange in other parts of the county, provide $ to "clean up campsites", collaborate on regular clean-ups, and a few other items. They didn't address the deeper issues of "is there really a danger from needle sticks of any magnitude?" nor "provide public input into these advisory groups" (as I and TBSC agree on) nor an exploration of needle drug use for housed as well as homeless, nor any realistic assessment of how much is being spent on drug recovery compared to how much is needed.

And I don't recall any figures on whether needle disposal has increased or diminished as a funcction of the Barson St. exchange being shut down for a year. Nor whether HIV and Hep C infections have gone up. Both sides should be tracking this.

Some sort of Needle education, input, or discussion event was announced by a Supervisor for 5:30 PM April 29th at Grant Street Park, according to my rough notes.
by Robert Norse
....then there's the call for cost estimates for a fence around Emeline to "protect" the neighbors I guess. Sort of like concentration camping the Homeless (Lack of) Services Center with a "security gate" to "protect" the Harvey West-skees and "secure' the "campus".

The Sentinel's story is at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/santacruz/ci_25572777/big-changes-ahead-santa-cruz-county-needle-exchange?source=nav .
by Dan
The expectation was that Obamacare would be able to provide "treatment on demand". Insurers are required to cover substance abuse treatment. The county behavioral health managers around the state were all excited about this-we discussed this repeatedly when I served on Fresno County's alcohol and drug advisory board. The trick is, getting people to seek treatment. And that goes to the root of the debate about needle exchange-does the existence of NE discourage addicts from getting clean?
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