Orange County Launches Clean-Needle Program
These programs stem from the idea that, if drug use can't be halted, substituting clean needles for dirty ones might reduce the harms -- such as exposure to diseases and infections -- that users face. Also, in Kern Country, sheriff's department deputies will be trained in how to administer a life-saving drug to people who overdose on opioids.
Los Angeles Times:
Orange County Just Launched Its First Clean-Needle Exchange
A year ago, a group of UC Irvine medical students realized that Orange County was missing what they considered an important public health service that every major city in California had access to: a clean-needle exchange program. So they decided to do something about it. The students organized with partners across the region and submitted a plan to the California Department of Public Health. The agency rejected the plan last summer, noting a lack of community support and funding for a program. (Kandil, 2/23)
KGET:
Local Deputies To Be trained To Administer Drug To Reverse Overdoses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in our country and statistics show opioid addiction is driving this epidemic. The Kern County Sherifff's Department will become one of just a handful in California training its deputies to administer a life-saving drug to people who overdose on opioids. (Price, 2/22)