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- Written by: Office of Assemblyman Wes Chesbro
SACRAMENTO – The State Assembly has approved a bill by First District Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) that seeks to shield the public from communicable diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C.
AB 1701 would make permanent the Disease Prevention Demonstration Project, which encourages injection drug users to use clean needles. The program allows participating pharmacies to sell up to 10 syringes at a time to adults without a prescription.
“This is about protecting the public and the families of addicts from contracting communicable diseases,” Chesbro said. “Injection drug use is the second leading cause of HIV transmission and the leading cause of hepatitis C virus infection in California. Sharing of contaminated syringes and other injection equipment is linked to nineteen percent of all reported AIDS cases in the state.”
The Disease Prevention Demonstration Project was created by legislation authored by then state Sen. John Vasconcellos in 2004. It went into effect on Jan. 1, 2005 and is currently set to sunset the last day of this year. AB 1701 seeks to remove that sunset and make the program permanent.
Dr. Ann Lindsay, Humboldt County’s public health officer and president of the Health Officers Association of California, said the Demonstration Project is particularly important in Humboldt County because the county’s two major needle exchanges – where addicts were able to exchange used syringes for new ones – shut down last year because of budget cuts. Currently, 11 pharmacies in Humboldt County are participating in the program.
“Studies have shown that allowing pharmacies to sell syringes without a prescription has reduced needle sharing,” said Dr. Lindsay, who testified in support of AB 1701 when the bill was heard in the Assembly Health Committee in March. “Most other states don’t restrict the sales of injection needles.”
Pharmacies may choose or not choose to participate – the program is not mandatory. Participating pharmacies are not required to register. The Demonstration Project allows only adults 18 and older to purchase syringes without a prescription, but pharmacies aren’t required to ask for identification. Minors and adults who have current subscriptions to purchase syringes are not affected by this law.
“The goal of this legislation is to encourage drug users to use new and sterile syringes,” Chesbro said. “The best way to accomplish this is to make the purchase of syringes simple and non-threatening.”
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- Written by: Editor
LAKEPORT – This Thursday, Catfish Books in Lakeport will host Registered Dietitian Kathleen DuChene who will discus her book, “The Therapy of Nutrition.”
The reading and book signing will take place from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Nutrition can be a constant struggle or it can be very therapeutic. Often times friends, family or even a new fad diet will offer advice on how to maintain health through means that are not as healthful as it first seems.
With so much off-centered information out there, it is difficult to know who to trust to help you get a real grip on your health.
“The Therapy of Nutrition” walks you through how the body functions so you can understand why nutrition works to either strengthen or destroy your health and how to use nutrition to your body’s utmost advantage.
Therapeutic nutrition promises to enliven your entire body, soul, and mind to help you feel better than you have ever felt.
Feeding the body reflects upon the soul, whether that food is good for the body or not. Withholding precious nutrients the body desperately needs every day can steal life and energy and cause emotional distress, but knowing how to feed your body what it needs will not only reawaken your energy but it can also open your eyes to enhanced emotional vigor as well as a deep-rooted inner peace with the person you are.
Everything we are or aspire to become begins with how we feed our bodies, because feeding the body will enliven our soul.
Catfish Books is located at 1013 11th St., Lakeport, telephone 707-263-4454.
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- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – On behalf of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC), Chair Andrew Poat and Vice-Chair Larry Poaster announced Wednesday that the new MHSOAC Executive Director is Ms. Sherri L. Gauger.
The MHSOAC is responsible for oversight and accountability of mental health services in California.
The 16-member MHSOAC was formed by the passage in 2004 of Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).
Gauger is currently the deputy director of the Division of Addiction and Recovery Services, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
She has previously served as a career executive (CEA) for the Governor’s Strike Force on Prison Reform; Deputy Director, Office of Legislative and External Affairs for the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs; and Assistant Deputy Director, Administration Division, for the Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
MHSOAC Chair Andrew Poat enthusiastically welcomed Ms. Gauger to her new position saying, “Sherri Gauger is exceptionally well qualified to assume the duties of executive director of the MHSOAC. She brings a wealth of executive level state work experience to the commission and we are very fortunate to have her join us.”
MHSOAC Vice-Chair Larry Poaster seconded Mr. Poat’s comments in saying, “Sherri Gauger has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to lead the commission staff to better serve mental health clients, families, and stakeholders.”
Sherri Gauger will begin work at the MHSOAC later in April.
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- Written by: Editor
LAKEPORT – Do you find yourself more stressed out than usual lately?
Although life can seem overwhelming at times, you have the power to choose how you will react to stress in your life. Studies published in medical and scientific journals show mindfulness-based programs are beneficial to one’s health and well-being.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital invites you to move towards greater balance and control in your life by participating in the stress reduction and relaxation clinic.
During this eight-week intensive program, participants will learn how to become stress responsive and let go of reactive habits when faced with life stressors.
Among those benefiting from these clinics are those suffering from depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and work stress.
“Stress is always a part of our lives and therefore unavoidable,” explained Leslie Lovejoy, PhD, clinic facilitator, “but we can change both how we perceive stress and respond to it.”
Through the use of abdominal breathing, progressive relaxation, mindful meditation, gentle movement yoga and other strategies, participants will learn how to consciously and healthily cope with life stress, improve self esteem and have greater enthusiasm for life.
“In making a change with how we respond to stress, we take back our lives and can regain the richness and joy of living,” said Dr. Lovejoy.
This program can offer great benefit by reducing work stress and improving balance between work and personal life.
The program begins Wednesday, March 31, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and meets at the hospital’s Integrative Healing House.
Dr. Lovejoy has provided this program for the past seven years and in 2006 Sutter Lakeside Hospitals Stress Reduction and Relaxation Clinic was featured on Sutter Health’s LifeStages television program.
The video can be viewed at https://mylifestages.org/MyLifeStages/videos/video_library.page .
To register for the program, call the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Wellness Center at 707-262-5171. Scholarships opportunities are available.
To learn more about Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s programs and physicians, or to hear what our patients have to say, please visit www.sutterlakeside.org .