LET'S GET PRACTICAL ABOUT NEEDLES

Once again, a majority of Fresno County Supervisors knows better than
the experts.

With intravenous drug use and diseases from dirty needles ravaging
thousands of residents and exposing nonusers to needless risk, Judy
Case, Phil Larson and Debbie Poochigian voted down plans for a
county- approved needle exchange program.

"It's a philosophical question whether you give someone the tools to
continue illegal behavior," Case, a registered nurse, told Bee
reporter Kurtis Alexander. "I just think providing needles to addicts
is enabling."

Chalk up another political victory for the morality posse.

Unfortunately, it goes down as another health defeat for a county
that attracted negative attention in 2004 for having the highest
per-capita use of injected drugs in our nation's metropolitan areas.

The situation was so dire that Dr. Edward Moreno, the county's health
officer, two years later declared a health crisis among intravenous
drug users infected with hepatitis C and the AIDS virus.

Case is wrong when she says that needle exchanges pose a
philosophical question. What we have is a health question, and
evidence shows that exchanges cut the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.
In budget-conscious times, you'd think the board majority would want
to reduce expensive treatments for these diseases.

You'd also think that the county would want to be part of enhancing
the good work of the Fresno Needle Exchange Program, a volunteer
effort that has operated illegally since since the mid-1990s near
Roeding Park, and free medical care provided by Dr. Marc Lasher.

The board rejected a sound plan. Besides trading clean needles for
dirty ones, the program would've exposed users to what they need:
drug rehabilitation, mental-health treatment, temporary housing. Plus
the proposal had the backing of WestCare California, a substance
abuse treatment center with more than 1,000 clients in the Fresno
area and a record of success.

But the trio of supervisors didn't want to appear soft on drugs. No,
sir. No, ma'am. All these supervisors know is that meth and heroin
are illegal and drug users shouldn't have needles. The law is the
law, after all.

It's too bad that Case, Larson and Poochigian didn't recognize that
the county is responsible for protecting the public at large. When
dirty needle sharing is reduced, exposure to communicable diseases is cut, too.

One thing all supervisors understand is that voters tend to like
candidates who support law enforcement. Maybe the supervisors should
consider that needle exchanges help first responders and other
innocent victims who come in contact with dirty needles.

I'm willing to provide cover for Case & Co. should they someday
change their minds. They could chalk up the new stance to
compassionate conservatism and protecting the public without
condoning illegal drug use.

It shouldn't be hard for them, actually. They're all supported by
farmers who don't blink twice over hiring illegal immigrants to work
the fields.

Not that I'm criticizing farmers. They've got crops that need
picking. In such situations, the overriding question is always
practical not philosophical.