El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson and El Dorado County Sheriff Jeff Leikauf released a joint press release to express opposition to Assembly Bill 1037 on April 3.

AB 1037 aims to continue harm reduction efforts by expanding access to clean needles, naloxone and other drug testing tools and shift from abstinence mandates to patient-centered care. The bill was introduced by Assemblywoman Sade Elhawary, D-Los Angeles, on Feb. 20. 

“This legislation will continue to allow the victimization of El Dorado County and the state of California, as hypodermic needles, glass smoking pipes ‘meth/crack pipes’ and other similar drug paraphernalia are distributed without regard to the safety of the public,” states Sheriff Leikauf in the press release. “The passage of this legislation will only cause a further degradation to the quality of life in El Dorado County and the communities of California.”

According to the press release, AB 1037, if passed, would reduce the power of local governments and restrict their ability to make decisions on the interests of their communities.

“Seventy percent of California voters supported Proposition 36 with the stated intent to move away from the decriminalization and continued use by addicts of hard-core drugs,” Pierson notes in the press release. “Harm reduction policy has failed this state.”

Both Pierson and Leikauf were guests on the John McGinness Show on April 3 to speak about their opposition. McGinness, a former Sacramento County sheriff, hosts his radio show and podcast on Sacramento’s KFBK News Radio.

Leikauf expressed concern that the proposed legislation affects the most vulnerable population — the unhoused — and noted the use of fire and heat to utilize the tools given by harm reduction policies is a real threat.

“It takes a torch to heat these up to a certain temperature for these to work,” Leikauf said on the McGinness show. “We implemented a fire captain into our OES last year and he tracked it, and we had 28 fires in El Dorado County that were associated with our most vulnerable population, the people who are in shelters.”

Pierson said to the state of California during the McGinness show, “We’re better at dealing with this problem than you are.”

“[AB 1037] will make it far more difficult for us to have any type of local control over how we do this type of enforcement,” Pierson maintained. “It is not compassionate to let somebody stick a needle in their arm over and over again.”

This is not the first time El Dorado County leaders have opposed harm reduction measures. The county is currently at the center of a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta for banning drug needle exchange programs in the community.

The California Society of Addiction Medication supports AB 1037 and argues that reducing the barrier to accessing substance use disorder services must be prioritized; this bill will widen the accessibility of these services.

AB 1037 was referred to the Assembly Committees on Health and Judiciary on March 10. No further update on its progress is available at this time.