El Dorado County cannot implement a ban on a program that hands out clean syringes as a legal battle continues between the county and the California Department of Public Health, a Superior Court judge has ruled.
Judge Gary S. Slossberg issued a preliminary injunction to prevent El Dorado County from implementing an ordinance that makes it illegal to operate a syringe program in its unincorporated areas.
The judge said that he did not consider the heated arguments for or against the syringe program, which provides sterile needles to people who use drugs, but that the Department of Public Health has a “reasonable possibility” that there is an argument that the county regulations. conflict with state law.
Friday’s decision did not end a courtroom dispute over whether the ban imposed by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors was preempted by state law, as public health officials argued, or countered claims by county officials that the syringe program was not approved by the state. . Slossberg said Friday that the preliminary injunction should remain in place pending the next hearing.
The Department of Public Health filed suit against El Dorado County and the Placerville county seat this year for banning the syringe program in violation of state health and safety codes.
The state health department first authorized the nonprofit Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition to operate a syringe program in the county four years ago. State officials have long endorsed the program as a proven way to prevent HIV and hepatitis C from spreading because people share contaminated needles.
California’s law gives public health agencies the power to approve needle-stick programs anywhere a deadly or deadly infection can be spread through a used needle, “notwithstanding any other law.”
Local bans on syringe programs remain in place in California as city and county officials argue that giving away free syringes does more harm than good. El Dorado County leaders passed the ordinance in December, which was followed in February by the same ordinance in Placerville.
The lawsuit filed by the California Department of Public Health drew objections from El Dorado County leaders: Earlier this year, Dist. Atty. Vern Pierson called it “madness” and said California officials are “trying to impose the normalization of hard drug use.”
In a cross-complaint filed with the Department of Public Health, the county said the state’s approved syringe program has caused “profound disruption and public safety impacts,” including a “dramatic increase in discarded needles,” and overdoses are on the rise. since it started.
The county said in a legal filing that since the ban went into effect, “there has been a reduction in needle waste, a reduction in public nuisance incidents, and a reduction in the burden on law enforcement.”
They also sued the public health department for not following state requirements when approving syringe programs.
The judge did not consider the cross-complaint filed by El Dorado County in the hearing on Monday. In court filings, California officials said studies show that syringe programs provide important resources for needle disposal and play an important role in preventing overdoses. He credits the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition with giving away thousands of boxes of Narcan, a brand of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.
The Department of Public Health supports in a legal filing that ending the syringe program will likely ramp up HIV and hepatitis C infections among people who use drugs, increasing the state’s cost of care; lead to more deaths than drug overdoses; and reduced access to options for syringe disposal, among other harmful effects.
Because of the ban, “the most vulnerable, stigmatized, and marginalized members of the community are actively denied lifesaving interventions,” Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition interim executive director Shilo Jama said in a court filing.
Slossberg said that even if he blocked El Dorado County’s ordinance from being implemented, the county may have other mechanisms to deal with noise issues that the ruling does not address.
In a statement issued in response to the judge’s comments, Pierson, the district attorney, said that “we will be proposing to expedite the regulations.”
Friday’s ruling only applies to ordinances passed by El Dorado County. Attorney Mona Ebrahimi, who represents the city of Placerville, said the hearing involving the city has been delayed.
