NOTE BY NORSE:  Uncharacteristically powerful and informative interview with Emily Ager of Street Outreach Supporters needle exchange.  Though it doesn’t name local names and point the finger at the culprits who shut down the Barsen St. Needle Exchange, it even educated the interviewer and radicallly shifted his viewpoint.

I disagree somewhat on Ager’s advice on how to deal with SCPD (“be honest” rather than “be  silent” or “ask questions, don’t volunteer answers”), but I think letting cops know if you have an exposed needle in your pocket and they’re going to search you anyway is sound advice.

The whole probation/parole/search/can’t carry needles scam is a receipe for escalating improper needle disposal (as protection against prosecution) as well as a make-work program for prisons, jails, courts, lawyers, etc.  We also need some radically different approaches to addiction problems such as Vancouver or Europe’s approaches (injection rooms, inhalation centers where people can legally and safely shoot up or sniff).

If Emily is accurate in her info, this interview gives significant resources, to those seeking to dissolve the misinformation and fear spread by groups like Take Back Santa Cruz and The Clean Team.

http://santacruz.patch.com/blog_posts/stuck-between-a-rock-and-a-sharp-place-interview-with-emily-ager-of-the-street-outreach-supporters