AIDS Commission to Ask for Bleach Distribution
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The Los Angeles County AIDS Commission--supported by a new UCLA study--voted Friday to ask the Board of Supervisors to permit county employees to distribute vials of bleach to intravenous drug abusers.
The commission’s chairman, Municipal Judge Rand Schrader, cited a UCLA study indicating that the distribution of bleach to San Francisco drug users has been effective in slowing the spread of the AIDS virus by sterilizing shared needles.
“If the people are really taught this, they will reduce the spread of the AIDS virus,” Schrader said.
In 1988, Supervisor Ed Edelman introduced a motion similar to the one sought by AIDS commissioners, but he was unable to bring it to a vote.
Schrader noted, however, that since then the composition of the Board of Supervisors has changed with the election of Gloria Molina, who reportedly favors distribution of bleach by public employees.
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