SANTA ANA, Calif.—Orange County supervisors voted Tuesday to ask state officials to reconsider a needle-exchange program in Santa Ana.
The program by the Harm Reduction Institute comes about five years after the county prevailed in litigation to halt another needle-exchange program based on arguments that it led to an increase in littering in the city.
“I know having been formerly the mayor of Santa Ana when we had the Orange County needle exchange program there were not only ancillary impacts, but direct impacts,” Orange County Supervisor Vince Sarmiento said. “This effort is a noble one to make sure we reduce the dissemination of illnesses like HIV and Hepatitis C, but there have to be better practices. … Until we find those better practices … I don’t see it yet. I just saw too many impacts that were too difficult to overcome.”…