CORRESPONDENCE - 85A - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Lopez, Kenia From: Elvia Hernandez < Sent: Monday, March 18, 2019 6:13 PM To: eComment Subject: needle exchange Honorable Council Members: From 2016 to 2018 a Needle Exchange Program operated weekly in the Civic Center Plaza where the library is located. Recently a needle exchange program was scheduled to be established again in Santa Ana. I have witnessed that, as proposed, the Needle Exchange Program had disastrous effects in my neighborhood and my community. Programs like these, as well -intention ed as they may be, have an extremely harmful and long-lasting negative impact when implemented without local input and control. I am writing to express my support for SB 689 which simply aims to give local control of needle exchange programs. I believe this is vital to the efficacy of such programs. This bill will allow local municipalities to build wrap-around services and an entire continuum of care in conjunction with the needle exchanges. It will allow the municipalities to set aside funding for treatment programs for addiction, mental health services, disease prevention, education and many other resources that are so desperately needed. The State Department currently controlling needle exchanges does not have the benefit of intimately knowing what each individual municipality needs, what the demographics are, where things are located, such as schools and after-school programs where children are playing. Although needle exchange may be an asset to some, putting the public safety of children at risk is not beneficial. The harm to the many far outweighs the service to the few. Local municipalities should be able to work in collaboration with service providers and residents to determine how they can best make needle exchanges work within their jurisdiction. Please accept this email as my statement of support for drafting a resolution supporting SB 689. Thank you, Elvia Hernandez