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At an April 10 public forum held at
the Santa Cruz High School auditorium, experts on needle exchange programs
aimed at injection drug users highlighted the benefits that exchanges provide
to addicts and the community at large. Several nonprofits and churches
sponsored the forum, at which more than 100 people attended.
Giang Nguyen, director of the
county's Health Services Agency; Alex Kral of San Francisco's Urban Health
Program; and Craig Reinarman, a University of California Santa Cruz sociology
professor, all spoke about drugs, public health, and needle exchanges. The
speakers all supported free syringe distribution to prevent diseases from
spreading, and they encouraged proper needle disposal among drug users. In
Santa Cruz, drug use and needle exchanges are controversial topics; the
community has grown increasingly perturbed with the number of cast-off needles
found in parks and on beaches, which they say has eroded public safety and the
quality of life.
City residents successfully called
for the January 2013 closure of Street Outreach Supporters, a longtime needle
exchange program in Santa Cruz’s Lower Ocean area. The program has since
relocated to the county’s Emeline Avenue campus in Santa Cruz, which has
resulted in a 38-percent decrease in participants. Beginning April 30, county
public health workers will oversee the needle exchange program, which will move
indoors. The program also will operate at the Watsonville Health Center on
Crestview Drive, with needles available five days a week.
Nguyen emphasized, "We're not
about promoting drugs. Our mission is to prevent communicable diseases in this
community. We want to make sure the syringe exchange program continues in this
community." Nguyen informed the forum that Santa Cruz County injection drug
users comprise 12 percent of new HIV cases, compared with 20 percent statewide,
a sign of the program's success. Kral, with many years of experience in San
Francisco needle exchange programs, said the benefits are far reaching, and
that his research refutes opponents’ accusations that providing heroin users
with free, sterile needles increases their drug use.
Santa Cruz resident Elizabeth Gaona
attended the forum with her 7-month-old son. Gaona has participated in a few
Take Back Santa Cruz events. She stated that drug use has been a divisive issue
in the community. She declared, "I'd like to see some kind of solution
come together. I'd like to re-unify our community. Right now it feels like a
shouting match by both sides."
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
