Syringe ordinance and tobacco retail zones on El Dorado County Board of Supervisors agenda

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors (BOS) has its next meeting on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, starting at 9 a.m. After the 34-item consent agenda, there are five items.

In a 1:30 p.m. time certain agenda item, the BOS will discuss an urgency ordinance to prohibit the establishment, operation, use, and/or participation in a syringe exchange program within the unincorporated areas of the County to "protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of its residents."

Supervisors Wendy Thomas and Lori Parlin, along with Sheriff Jeff Leikauf and District Attorney Pierson, are recommending the BOS institute the urgency ordinance and approve a new ordinance due to the increase in overdose deaths. They said the operation of a needle exchange or distribution program increases the risk of overdose and death "by facilitating the use of deadly and dangerous synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, which can be hard to detect and drug users can be unaware that the drugs they ingest contain fentanyl, and can be lethal in doses as small as a few grains of salt."

According to the Georgetown Medical Review in a story this summer, while injection drug use contributes to overdose deaths as well as infectious disease transmission, namely, hepatitis and HIV.2–5, syringe services programs do not add to increased drug use and help decrease infectious disease transmission (50 percent reduction in HIV and hepatitis C virus infection.)

The author said while having a syringe exchange/disposal program isn't perfect, it prevents improperly disposed needles that can be harmful.

In the 11 a.m. time certain agenda item, the BOS will receive a presentation on Tobacco Retail Density and Zoning Education.

To combat the increased use of tobacco by those under the age of 21 (through vaping and smoking), the County has been holding community meetings for over a year.

Just as there are safety zones around cannabis businesses, the County may do the same for those businesses that sell tobacco and vaping products. There are 138 tobacco retailers in the county, 44 of them within 1,000 feet of a school, and 93 within 1,000 feet of another tobacco retailer.

Currently, 119 municipalities in 29 counties regulate the density and/or proximity of retail tobacco sales in some manner, with 103 of those restricting the proximity to youth-populated areas (parks, schools, and/or childcare).

For the full agenda, participating instructions, and the meeting Zoom link, visit https://eldorado.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx.