BIG FINES FOR SYRINGE LITTERERS

Frankston Council will impose heavy fines on people who discard syringes in
public places.

The crackdown will see council introduce a special local law for syringe
littering that will quadruple the existing $100 on-the-spot fine.

Syringe litterers who do not pay the $400 will face four days in jail.

The radical move comes in the same week that a four-year-old boy received a
needle stick injury from a syringe left at the Young St bus station.

The boy was waiting to travel to Seaford with his grandmother when he
picked up the discarded syringe. He was treated at a nearby clinic and
tested for HIV (AIDS) and hepatitis. He will be retested in March for HIV.

The incident sparked the anger of Frankston mayor Cr Mark Conroy, who
proposed the new law at a council meeting soon after. The mayor has also
suggested random patrols 24 hours a day to catch syringe litterers. He is
also hoping for support from police patrols.

"We've spent more than $150,000 cleaning up syringes in streets, beaches
and foreshore as well as installing disposal bins," he said on Friday. "We
have four public needle exchange programs in Frankston. There is no longer
any excuse for people to leave syringes lying around."

Cr Conroy said a big fine or four days in jail would force people to
correctly dispose of syringes. It is expected the law will come into effect
in about six weeks, and council will run an education campaign.

The mayor's initiative has received support from one Liberal Party MP and
condemnation from another. Frankston MLA Andrea McCall said she was pleased
"Frankston Council has woken up to the fact it has powers to act on issues
such as syringes in streets".

"It is not just the responsibility of state and federal governments to
solve the problem of drugs in our community, but also that of local
government."

She said few drug addicts would be able to pay the $400 fine and would
likely be sentenced to jail. "We may be unable to cope with the increase of
people in overcrowded police lock-ups and prisons," she said.

But Chelsea Province MLC Cameron Boardman has accused Cr Conroy of
"grandstanding and failing to consider all the implications".

"The key issues are that bylaws officers are not trained to handle
potentially confrontational situations when they find a drug addict
dropping a syringe, and police are required to arrest such people, not fine
them for littering," he said.

Mr Boardman, a former police officer, said local police had not been
consulted on the plan and many had expressed reservation.

"Filling prisons with syringe litterers who have not paid their fines is
also against state policy regarding drug addicts. It's a nutty plan."

One of the region's top policemen, Acting Superintendent John Heynes, said
police "officially support any move by any agency to improve syringe return
rates".

"They are a potential threat to everyone and a public eyesore," he said.

Superintendent Heynes said people who were unlucky enough to receive needle
stick injuries were highly unlikely to contract HIV, but Hepatitis C was a
major threat.