El Dorado County cannot enforce its ban on programs that hand out clean syringes as a legal battle between the county and the California Department of Public Health continues, a Superior Court judge ruled.
Judge Gary S. Slossberg granted a preliminary injunction to prevent El Dorado County from enforcing an ordinance that makes it illegal to operate syringe programs in its unincorporated areas.
The judge said he was not looking at the heated arguments for or against syringe programs, which provide sterile needles to people who use drugs, but rather whether the Department of Public Health had a “reasonable probability” of prevailing in its argument. that the county ordinance conflicts with state law.
Friday's decision does not end the court dispute over whether the ban passed by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors was preempted by state law, as public health officials have argued, or contradicts the claims of the county officials that the syringe program was improperly approved by the state. . Slossberg said Friday that the preliminary injunction will remain in effect pending a subsequent trial.
The Department of Public Health filed a lawsuit against El Dorado County and its Placerville County seat this year, alleging that their bans on syringe programs defied state health and safety code.
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 supported these programs as a proven way to prevent HIV and hepatitis C from spreading rampantly when people share contaminated syringes.
California law gives the public health agency the power to approve syringe programs anywhere where deadly or disabling infections can be spread through used needles, “without prejudice to any other law.”
However, local bans on syringe programs have emerged across California as city and county officials argue that handing out free syringes does more harm than good. El Dorado County leaders approved their policy in December, which was followed in February by a similar ordinance in Placerville.
The lawsuit filed by the California Department of Public Health drew objections from El Dorado County leaders: Earlier this year, Dist. Attorney. Vern Pierson called it “insanity” and argued that California officials were “seeking to impose the normalization of heavy drug use.”
In a cross-complaint filed against the Department of Public Health, the county said the state-approved syringe program had caused “profound inconvenience and public safety impacts,” including a “dramatic increase in discarded needles” and that overdoses had increased. since it started.
The county said in a legal document that since the ban went into effect, “there has been a reduction in syringe waste, a decrease in public nuisance incidents, and a resulting reduction in burdens on law enforcement.”
He also accused the public health department of not following state requirements when it approved the syringe program.
The judge did not weigh in on the counterclaim filed by El Dorado County at Friday's hearing. In a court filing, California officials said studies show syringe programs provide important resources for needle disposal and play a crucial role in overdose prevention. They credited the Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition with delivering thousands of boxes of Narcan, a brand of naloxone, a medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
The Department of Public Health argued in a legal document that stopping the syringe program would likely increase HIV and hepatitis C infections among people who use drugs, increasing state costs for their care; cause more drug overdose deaths; and reduce access to syringe disposal options, among other harmful effects.
Because of the bans, “the most vulnerable, stigmatized and marginalized members of our community are actively denied life-saving interventions,” Sierra Harm Reduction Coalition interim executive director Shilo Jama said in a court filing. .
Slossberg said that although he was blocking El Dorado County's enforcement of the ordinance, the county could have other mechanisms to address vexing issues that were not addressed in the decision.
In a statement issued in response to the judge's comments, Pierson, the district attorney, said “we will propose limiting the ordinance.”
Friday's ruling applies only to the ordinance passed by El Dorado County. Attorney Mona Ebrahimi, who represents the city of Placerville, said a hearing involving the city had been postponed.
