Needle Swaps Illegal, County Counsel Says : Government: Legal adviser tells supervisors that allowing an exchange to help prevent AIDS would be against the law even in a state of emergency.

Los Angeles County Counsel DeWitt Clinton, in a brief but definitive opinion, told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that it would be illegal to allow needle exchange programs for drug abusers under any circumstances.

Clinton’s opinion appeared to dash, for the moment, the hopes of several board members who favor needle exchange programs to reduce the spread of AIDS among intravenous drug abusers.

The county counsel said it would not only be illegal to allow such exchanges but that the county could be liable for any harm that results from such a program.

The opinion comes a month after Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and the City Council took steps to foster needle exchange programs in the city.

At the council’s urging, Riordan declared a state of emergency in an attempt to avoid state law that normally bans the public issuance of needles for illegal drug use and without a doctor’s prescription. San Francisco officials made a similar declaration in 1993 to allow exchange programs.

But County Counsel Clinton said that in his opinion the declaration of a local emergency still “does not permit the violation of state law.”

City Atty. James K. Hahn and Police Chief Willie L. Williams have as taken a more flexible stance. In response to the declaration by the mayor and counsel, the city attorney’s office is handling cases of needle exchange on a case-by-case basis, said Earl Thomas, assistant chief of the criminal division of the city attorney’s office.

“We are not bound by the (council action) but it does weigh in our consideration” when determining whether to prosecute, Thomas said. Police are also seeking to abide by the council’s request and are not actively pursuing grass-roots groups that sponsor needle exchanges.

After receiving the county counsel’s opinion, the Board of Supervisors delayed a vote on implementing needle exchanges, and instead asked for more opinions on the topic. A spokesman for Supervisor Ed Edelman, who has been advocating exchange programs since 1988, said the board will continue to look for a way to implement an exchange program legally.