City Council to weigh in on options for syringe litter programs

At next week’s Santa Cruz City Council meeting the council is expected to address support for programs to mitigate syringe litter on city streets, beaches and parks.

The city reports from May 2018 – July 2019 the downtown streets team picked up nearly 6,000 needles and in 2018 the Parks Department picked up more than 4,100.

Earlier this Summer the city received a letter from the county regarding putting more kiosks for safe syringe disposal throughout the city.

The city will be voting whether to support that on Tuesday night at city hall.

The item on the agenda also asks the council to direct the Mayor to advise the County of Santa Cruz that:

— No “safe injection” sites within the City of Santa Cruz should be established.

— No additional syringe exchange sites (including mobile exchange) in the City of Santa Cruz should be established without prior City Council approval.

— The City does not support “secondary syringe exchange.”

— The County should establish a 24/7 needle litter response program.

This is item number 18 on the 1:00 p.m. agenda for September 24th.