More than 30 activists from Fresno, the Bay Area and Stanislaus County converged outside the downtown Modesto courthouse Monday to protest criminal charges against two people accused of handing out clean syringes and collecting dirty ones from drug addicts in a Modesto park.

Kristy Tribuzio, 36, and Brian Robinson, 37, face up to a year in jail for breaking a law they consider to be immoral.

People held signs reading “Public Health Over Politics” and chanted in favor of dropping the charges. They excoriated local elected officials, pointing to a decision by the county Board of Supervisors in September 2008 to nix legalizing needle exchange over the recommendations of health officials.

“It should be a health issue, not a political issue,” said Dallas Blanchard, 45, whose needle exchange program in Fresno was approved just over a year ago.

“By treating it as a political issue, we’re just allowing people to die,” he added. [via]

The organization pays women who are drug addicts or alcoholics a one time amount of $300 to get permanent birth control. [via

I was hoping this was going to be about C.R.A.C.K. but I guess we are still pushing forward on this great and totally non racist/misogynist/classist/otherwise discriminatory plan.

Also, Plan B is ‘the abortion pill’ but sterilization is just ‘permanent birth control’? Nice word choice.

“But despite much attention given to the power of placebos, basic questions about them remain unanswered: Are they any better than no treatment at all? Must people be deceived into believing that a treatment is active for a placebo to work?”

“Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy is among at least seven pharmacies across the nation that are refusing as a matter of faith to sell contraceptives of any kind, even if a person has a prescription.” [via]