Leaders Speak Against Safe Syringe Programs

VIDEO – LET THEM EAT DEATH –

July 18, 2023 – “Simply flooding the community with paraphernalia, making it easier to abuse drugs, is not the answer. I’m calling on the county to come back with real solutions like treatment, counseling and other services and job training,” said Dane White, Mayor of Escondido.

“We want to be clear that we support Narcan, we support overdose intervention, we support life-saving measures, but we oppose those measures that seek to normalize and expand illicit drug use instead of those that would seek to treat those who suffer from addiction,” said John Franklin, Mayor of Vista.

Tara Stamos-Buesig is the founder of the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego, a non-profit that deploys a mobile unit to distribute safe syringes and Narcan across the county. She said the safe syringe programs are effective.

“Part of that initiative is being able to provide services on a continuum of care, recognizing that the goal may be abstinence, the goal may be, ‘I don’t want people to use’, but to get them to that spot there’s not a magic wand,” she said. “This is the No. 1 most effective way to reduce HIV, hepatitis C, COVID among people who use and inject drugs. People do not come to syringe service programs to start using, they don’t come and say: ‘Oh, I’ve never smoked a drug, let me get some pipes.”