Support Harm Reduction at City Council

Despite our best efforts, a portion of the Santa Cruz City Council remains opposed to our mission of keeping our community safe and healthy.

On the agenda for upcoming City Council meeting on Tuesday, 9/24, Councilmembers Donna Meyers and Cynthia Mathews have proposed that the City of Santa Cruz send a letter to the County advising that:

1. The City is open to installing four new syringe disposal kiosks
2. The City should establish a 24/7 needle litter response program
3. No "safe injection' sites within the City of Santa Cruz should be established.
4. No additional syringe exchange sites (including mobile exchange) in the City be established without prior Council approval
5. The City does not support secondary syringe exchange

Now #1 is obviously an action that any supporter of Harm Reduction would love to see happen. And #2 is something that I'm going to leave aside for the sake of this email.

But #3, #4, and #5 are deeply worrying proposals. As supporters of Harm Reduction, we must show up on Tuesday and let the council know why they should vote against these parts of the proposal.

We cannot let ignorance and fear continue to be the drivers of policy around such a critical issue in the City of Santa Cruz. Syringe access and disposal is critical to the health of our entire community, and arbitrary limitations on syringe services are not only dangerous, but also do not address the issue of syringe litter.

By showing up and speaking at the public comment portion of this agenda item we can demonstrate the massive level of support that exists for Harm Reduction in our community. But we need big numbers to make that point clear!