Needle Exchange Takes in More Than it Distributes

While Santa Cruz residents are angry and threatened by finding hundreds of hypodermic needles on beaches and parks, statistics released Friday by the the Health Department show that its needle exchange has collected 706 more needles than it gave out in the past three months.

The study was done at the request of the Santa Cruz City Council after residents marched in with bucketfuls of needles they found on the beach and along railroad tracks in the city. A needle exchange has been operating in the county for more than two decades as a way to cut the deadly diseases shared by addicts who use the same needles.

Some residents have blamed the exchange for encouraging drug use in the city. Its policy of not requiring an even needle-for-needle exchange has also come under fire.  According to the study, people who got needles delivered to their homes gave back more than they got, while people who went to the exchange center at the County Health Building on Emeline Street, gave back fewer than they received.

In the three months before August, 29,756 needles were handed out and 29,442 were returned. In Watsonville, there was an even exchange of 553 needles. In home deliveries there were 25,331 needles given out and 26,351 given back.

"The 90 day report from the county shows that they are listening to the concerns of the public and have a good start for addressing all constituencies," said national radio host Ethan Bearman, whose show is heard on KSCO-AM (1080) at noon.

  He commissioned a needle survey among residents and will have Lisa Hernandez, the person in charge of the exchange on his show at noon Monday (today) to take calls from listeners. 

"It will be important to see how they place additional needle kiosks, continue a good ratio of needle collection, and address the idea of needle labeling so we can determine the source of sharps found in the community."

Bearman's study found that people support a one-to-one exchange in a county-run  and monitored program.

The county's records showed also that 71 percent of needle users at the Emeline Clinic were 25-44 and 66 percent were men. 

The hours for the two clinics are: 

Santa Cruz Health Clinic at Emeline: M, W, Th, and F 8 a.m. -12 p.m., Tues 4:30 p.m.- 7 p.m. 

Watsonville Health Clinic at Crestview: M-Th 9 a.m.- 7 p.m. Fr 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (closed daily from 12-1 pm)