Bans on needle exchange programs sweep Placer County amid concerns over dirty syringe disposal

A wave of local ordinances banning needle exchange programs is sweeping south Placer County after a controversial application was submitted to state officials to offer home-delivery syringes.

The city of Rocklin approved an ordinance Tuesday, banning syringe exchange programs from operating in the city limits. The City Council unanimously adopted an urgency ordinance and a second ordinance in the event the urgency ordinance is challenged, according to the meeting.

City Council members raised concerns about the lack of transparency in the proposal submitted by Safer Alternatives through Networking and Education, known as SANE, which proposed distributing 200,000 syringes to addresses throughout Auburn, Loomis, Lincoln, Roseville and Rocklin.

“Participants can request a discreet delivery through a designated phone line and expect a delivery the same or next business day,” the application said. “Home delivery and pick-up will be available in the southwest areas of Placer County.”

The city of Lincoln met Tuesday to discuss SANE’s application and give direction to city staff on whether to draft an urgency ordinance, according to the meeting agenda.

And the town of Loomis adopted an identical urgency ordinance to that approved by the Placer County Board of Supervisors in its Tuesday meeting.

“The main reason for these ordinances to be in place is that there are current California laws or statutes that allow such a (syringe exchange) program ... to be enacted in the absence of any ordinance or law, so I think that’s why the trend is growing in this region,” said Lt. Josh Tindall of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office to the Loomis Town Council. “By no means necessarily does the passing of such an ordinance speak to the empathy or show a lack of empathy for anybody with any kind of substance abuse problem.”

The Auburn City Council also adopted an urgency ordinance in its meeting Monday night. Auburn Police Chief Ryan Kinnan said he supported the ordinance in Monday’s meeting, citing concerns about how dirty needles would be disposed of.

“There’s a lot of concerns about this model and this program coming into the city of Auburn and the area in general,” he said.

SANE’s proposal has received significant pushback since Sheriff Wayne Woo and Probation Chief Marshall Hopper submitted a letter of opposition to state officials, saying it lacked transparency and evidence to support its practices.

Woo and Hopper also raised concerns about the “unintended consequences” of a needle exchange in Placer County. The letter cited examples of other needle exchange programs in Seattle and Santa Ana that did not require drug users to turn over dirty hypodermic needles, resulting in needles littering public spaces.

“The Placer County Sheriff’s Office is adamantly opposed to any program that normalizes and promotes illegal drug use in this County,” the letter said.

Roseville’s City Council will next meet Wednesday. An agenda for the meeting will be posted early next week.