Placer officials vote to temporarily ban needle exchange programs after local group’s proposal

The Placer County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a temporary ban on needle exchange or distribution programs in a meeting Tuesday.

The urgency ordinance takes effect immediately in the unincorporated areas of the county and remains in effect until Oct. 27.

The ordinance and vote stem from a controversy over a proposed home-delivery needle exchange program in southern Placer County.

The proposal was submitted to the state’s Department of Public Health by Safer Alternatives through Networking and Education, known as SANE. An application on the department’s website lists a fixed location in Sacramento County as well as a home delivery option to southwest Placer County, including Auburn, Loomis, Lincoln, Roseville and Rocklin.

“Services in Placer County will be offered by home delivery and pick-up only,” the application said. “Participants can request a discreet delivery through a designated phone line and expect a delivery the same or next business day.”

The proposed service hours would be 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The application sparked community pushback, especially from Placer County’s top law enforcement officials.

Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo and Probation Chief Marshall Hopper filed an opposition letter with CDPH, saying they strongly objected to the proposal.

“Their estimate to collect 200,000 syringes is not supported by any empirical evidence of past practices,” the letter said. “In fact, while they keep a strict account of how many syringes they hand out, they only collect data on ‘pounds’ of used syringes/waste collected. This is clearly an opaque figure that lacks the transparency necessary for public officials to make informed decisions on programs that directly impact the citizens of this county. “

Woo and Hopper also raised concerns about the “unintended consequences” of a needle exchange in Placer County.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Woo repeated his concern to the supervisors, saying this needle exchange program would have ramifications on Placer residents’ quality of life.

“The data that in my opinion matters the most and that’s when we compare Placer County to the rest of the State of California,” Woo said. “When you compare our quality of life, you compare how we’re dealing with the homelessness issue, and all of the other metrics where you want to compare how we’re doing as a community compared to other communities in the state of California, I think we’re doing OK.”

“This (program) is not the answer,” he added.

Benjamin Oldach, a primary care and addiction physician in Auburn, expressed opposition to the ordinance in public comment, saying needle exchange programs offer a “lifeline” to addicts and can help expose people to treatment options. He urged the board to vote against the ordinance.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who utilize safe needle exchange programs are more likely to enter recovery programs, citing a 2006 comprehensive review of international studies as evidence.

The CDC also stated needle exchange programs reduce infections stemming from the repeated use of hypodermic needles.

The Board of Supervisors adopted the ordinance by a vote of 5-0.

Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, who represents the Tahoe area, said she disagreed with the program proposal and supported the ordinance.

“I think this county stands with helping people getting out of drug addiction ... but this program is not ready and is not providing the services that it is intended to in getting the needles off the street,” she said.

She and Supervisor Bonnie Gore raised concerns about the effects such a program would have on residents’ quality of life since the proposed program doesn’t require participants to turn in dirty needles to receive clean ones, raising fears dirty needles would be discarded in public spaces.

Gore called the program a “needle access program.”

Supervisor Shanti Landon, who represents Lincoln and west Roseville, voiced her support of the ordinance saying she grew up in a home where one of her parents struggled with addiction, giving her a unique perspective.

“We have a culture here in Placer County of really wanting to get to the root cause of why someone is addicted,” she said. “And to me, this is the ... program, while I think well-intentioned, really speaks to putting a Band-Aid on things.”

The Auburn City Council adopted a near identical 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.