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<br />UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO UCSD <br /> <br /> <br />BERKELEY DAVIS IRVINE LOS ANGELES RIVERSIDE SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO MERCED SANTA BARBARA SANTA CRUZ <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH 9500 GILMAN DRIVE, <br /> MC -0507 <br /> <br />DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA 92093-0507 <br />(858) 534-9570 FAX (858) 534-7566 <br /> <br />EMAIL: kdwagner@ucsd.edu <br /> <br /> <br />September 15, 2020 <br /> <br /> <br />RE: Proposed Ordinance NO. NS-XXX amending the Santa Ana Municipal Code (Health and <br />Sanitation) prohibiting syringe exchange programs in the City of Santa Ana <br /> <br /> <br />Dear Members of the Santa Ana City Council: <br /> <br />The continuing crisis of opioid-related harm poses a threat to the health and lives of <br />1 <br />thousands of individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). To ensure that these risks are <br />mitigated in Santa Ana, we urge you to reject the proposed ordinance adding article XV Syringe <br />exchange programs (SEPs) to chapter 18 of the Santa Ana Municipal code. <br />The primary concern of the City Council relates to discarded syringes in the community. <br />We share this concern. The solution, however, is not to ban SEPs; rather, the City should draw <br />on best available evidence to address this community challenge, including the deployment of <br />syringe services in a way that have helped other jurisdictions effectively reduce syringe litter. <br />This proposed ordinance would aggravate the very problem it is purporting to solve. <br />Further, the proposed ordinance is not just bad public health policy; it may also be bad <br />law. Should the City Council move forward with this ordinance, it might expose Santa Ana <br />taxpayers to litigation on several fronts, including claims for violations of the Americans with <br />Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (RA), and the Equal Protection <br />Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In recent years, courts have struck down numerous local <br />ordinances targeting SUD treatment facilities and their clients as discriminatory under the ADA <br />and the RA; similar analysis is applicable to syringe exchange programs. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />1 <br /> COVID-19 and the opioid crisis: When a pandemic and an epidemic collide | AAMC. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2020, from <br />https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/covid-19-and-opioid-crisis-when-pandemic-and-epidemic-collide <br /> <br />