OC Supes Oppose Needle Exchange Program

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Last week the Orange County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution that officially opposed an effort to create a mobile unit for people to pick up clean hypodermic needles. The Orange County Needle Exchange Program--the first of its kind in OC--used to operate in the Santa Ana Civic Center before city officials shut it down earlier this year. Advocates say it's necessary to clamp down on the exchange of needles by drug addicts, which passes diseases like AIDS and hepatitis. But critics say that it encourages drug use and poses a civic hazard. The Supes also asked their clerk to send the resolution to the California Department of Public Health as it mulls the Exchange's proposal. Who will win?

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Benjamin Gottlieb