San Diego will
resume needle exchanges

The San Diego city council this week voted 6-1 to resume a needle exchange program in the city that was shut down in July 2005. City council members said a new state law eliminating the need for local jurisdictions to declare a public-health emergency every two weeks in order to operate needle exchanges helped lead to their support of relaunching the program in San Diego. The city's needle exchange will be supported by a two-year, $386,400 grant from the Alliance Healthcare Foundation. City council members did not, however, decide when the program would officially resume or at what locations in the city needle exchange services would be offered. (The Advocate)