Police, Officials Speak Out Against Proposed Mobile Needle Exchange
Officials raised concern about the exchange being near some homes and an elementary school and about the possibility of discarded needles ending up in public areas, creating a "health risk to residents and visitors."
Los Angeles Times:
Costa Mesa Officials Call Proposal For Mobile Needle Exchange A Potential ‘Magnet For Drug Users’
Police and city officials expressed opposition Tuesday to a proposed mobile needle exchange service in Costa Mesa's Westside, saying the program could attract drug users and undermine the recovery of residents in sober-living homes. The Orange County Needle Exchange Program, a nonprofit that seeks to provide drug users with clean needles to help prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C, submitted an application in March to the California Department of Public Health to hand out needles and other supplies from a van in a largely industrial and commercial area in Costa Mesa. (Fry, 5/2)
In other news from across the state —
KPCC:
Orange County Still Awaiting New Homeless Shelter Sites
The search for emergency shelter sites was prompted earlier this year by a threat from U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who is overseeing several lawsuits filed by advocates for the homeless over the lack of shelter and services for hundreds of people living in encampments in central Orange County. Carter told the county and OC cities in March and April that they needed to create more emergency shelter space or risk forfeiting their right to kick homeless people out of parks and other public places. (Replogle, 5/2)
Orange County Register:
Inmate Dies Hours After Going Into Cardiac Arrest While Being Booked At An Orange County Jail
An inmate died Wednesday after going into cardiac arrest hours earlier while being booked into an Orange County jail, authorities said. The 37-year-old man, who was arrested late Monday, was being booked Tuesday into the Intake Release Center at the Central Jail Complex in Santa Ana when he “became uncooperative” with deputies, according to a Orange County Sheriff’s Department statement. (Emery, 5/2)
KQED:
Sex Ed Battle In Fremont
A battle over sex ed is roiling Fremont over how the Fremont Unified School District should or should not teach students about sex and sexuality. Tempers are high as some parents think teaching sex education beginning in fourth grade is inappropriate, while others think it is essential. (Fiore, 5/2)