Fresno County will no longer be handing out needles and glass pipes to drug users.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to cut ties with the controversial free needle exchange program on Tuesday.
The backstory: Two years ago the Board of Supervisors decided to bring the free needle exchange in-house.
- It was a major about face from a dozen years prior, when the board pulled its support from the program – the San Joaquin Valley Free Medical Clinic and Needle Exchange – in 2011.
- The program has operated in Fresno since 1994. The program operated every Saturday outside of its mobile medical clinic near Roeding Park in the 12-year period it was not supported by the county.
- The program has operated out of the Fresno County Department of Public Health building in downtown Fresno since January 2024.
The big picture: The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to cut ties with the program, a move carried by Supervisors Garry Bredefeld, Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes.
Driving the news: Assistant Director of Public Health Joe Prado told the board that the program served 130 people per week in 2024, down by 43% from when the program was held near Roeding Park.
- Prado told the board that the program also experienced a 50% decrease in needle distribution, with roughly 400,000 given out last year. The county also handed out around 150 crack pipes every week, totaling nearly 8,000 for the year.
- Prado attributed the decrease to the county asking for more information from program participants than when it was operated near Roeding Park. Bredefeld questioned Prado about the county not knowing if some of the past participants had died – implying from a drug overdose – leading to less participation. Prado agreed that it is a possibility for why the numbers had decreased.
Zoom in; Dr. Marc Lasher, the president of the program, told the board that the program provides a cover for the crack pipes so users would not burn their lips, leading Bredefeld to quip, “We don’t want them burning their lips when they’re smoking fentanyl.”
- In response to another question from Bredefeld, Lasher confirmed that the users do not have to turn in needles to receive clean needles, calling it a “starter kit,” which is enough for one week’s usage. Participants were then instructed to bring back the dirty needles the following week to exchange. Prado said the program issued 1.5 needles on average for every dirty needle it took in, with exception for the starter kit.
What they’re saying: Magsig, who opposed bringing the program in-house two years ago, once again expressed his reservations.
- “Where I am hard-pressed on this issue, and I’d shared this before two years ago, is for me there is a fine line between providing assistance and then enabling,” Magsig said.
- Following a series of questions to Prado and Lasher, Bredefeld showed a series of images of drug use, including people injecting needles in their arms and smoking from crack pipes. The presentation also showed images of people sitting on the street high on drugs.
- “It’s giving them crack pipes to smoke crack, fentanyl,” Bredefeld said while showing the pictures. “It’s police calls, and it’s despair and destruction. That’s what facilitating this program is about.”
- Bredefeld said it takes accountability, a commitment to sobriety and leading a drug free life with intense drug treatment and programs in order to help drug users turn their lives around. He added that there is no accountability with the needle exchange program.
- “Despite the fact that this region is known for its rampant use of meth, fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, Fresno County, through their participation in this program, is in essence enabling this destruction,” Bredefeld said. “It only results in more despair and horrific outcomes.”
