Council needs to heed Chicoans’ concerns

When 1,000 individuals sign a petition, something needs attention. So when 6,000 put their signature to paper, action is needed.

Those signatures were in response to a mobile syringe distribution program that started in Chico with the state’s help and isn’t wanted by a great number of residents. It’s been going on at city-owned Humboldt Park on Humboldt Avenue since last fall.

The people behind the program are best intentioned, but to hand out needles — plus other paraphernalia — to intravenous drug addicts is wrong, and that’s why 6,000 residents said it needs to stop.

At Tuesday’s Chico City Council meeting, residents who had witnessed distributions or seen other issues asked the council for help getting it stopped.

Remember that the North Valley Harm Reduction Coalition did not need the council’s approval to get started on handing out needles. The nonprofit went right to the state, and got the permit and free supplies in the name of battling Chico’s opioid crisis and curbing blood-born disease.

State approval was given even though it got letters of objection from Chico Police Chief Mike O’Brien and the Chico Area Recreation and Park District, which had struggled with needle litter at nearby Community Park before the program. There also were objections from community members.

The state asked the coalition to make changes, including dropping one of its distribution points, but gave the mobile plan the go-ahead for two years.

When complaints surfaced from parents about concerns for their children’s use of community parks; a woman who was given a choice between a packet of 10 needles or 100; and photos of boxes of used needles picked up from the ground, suspicions rose. Another woman who identified herself as a mother told the council that needles have been found on Chico playgrounds, but didn’t say which ones. Even a pastor stepped to the microphone and asked for intervention from the civic leaders.

Another woman wrote to us and described going through syringe “exchange” line like a “customer.” She said they offered her 100 syringes without asking for her age or identification, adding “they supply tie offs and ‘cookers’ to cook illegal drugs in. This is a distribution center!”

Obviously, some of those complaints could be offhanded comments, but nevertheless, there were concerns before the program even started last year.

Then there are the signatures.

Citizens told the council that it could ask the state for an injunction to stop the program, following what other cities have done.

A lawsuit was brought against the program by Orange County and the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and Orange last year, according to the LA Times. The basis of the suit was the needle program violated the California Environmental Quality Act, creates environmental impacts to the public health and needed a CEQA review. The judge ruled that the program added to used needle litter, which was a biohazard. Costa Mesa City Council approved a permanent ban on clean needle exchange last year.

We won’t dismiss there’s a problem in this area, but a city park near residences and a school isn’t the right place for this. Perhaps the Butte County Health Department, which supports the program, can offer a location with trained health staff in a better place.

To hand out needles — plus other paraphernalia — to intravenous drug addicts is wrong, and that’s why 6,000 residents said it needs to stop.