92 PER CENT OF NEEDLES ARE RETURNED, 6,000 AREN'T

Needles. They're a nightmare for kids and irritant for adults. But a
needle from a doctor is entirely different from a used drug needle
hiding like a snake in the grass where children may play.

It's a hard problem to solve entirely and Whitehorse does better than
most, said Becky Huston, a health promotion worker with Blood Ties
Four Directions Centre.

The centre operates a needle exchange program aimed at reducing the
transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C.

"We basically provide all the equipment that could transmit HIV or Hep
C," she said. Besides needles, the centre gives users sterile water,
cotton balls, tourniquets and needle disposal boxes.

Last year the centre gave out 78,714 needles and 72,309 came back for
a 92 per cent exchange rate. That stacks up well compared to other
cities, said Huston.

"Our intake to exchange rate is optimal."

However, even that noteworthy success left more than 6,000 needles
unaccounted for. Those needles pose a health risk to people that may
come into contact with them.

Many of those needles end up in parks and downtown green spaces
favoured by families. In an afternoon stroll along at the base of the
clay cliffs, Star reporters came across five needles in slightly out
of the way locations. All the needles were capped and found near dirty
blankets, empty mouthwash and alcohol bottles, condom wrappers and
sometimes a burnt out campfire.

Parks supervisor Doug Hnatiuk said that part of the city is well known
to parks staff for having discarded needles.

"We kind of expect them in certain locations of the city," he
said.

Other needle hot spots are along the waterfront and certain downtown
parks, he added.

Public Works manager Jim McLeod said the danger of discarded drug
needles is one reason the city overhauled its garbage collection system.

Used needles, he said, end up in street garbage barrels where they
pose a danger to city workers who handle the bags.

For that reason and others, the city has stopped using plastic bags in
downtown garbage barrels and switched to black bins and a new
automatic system to dump them in the truck. McLeod said no city worker
has been hurt by a needle recently.

"But in the past, I understand it's happened," he added.

Needles don't just end up in the garbage or on the street
though.

"We'd see them down manholes at times," said McLeod.

They also show up at the landfill, where a box of used needles was
recently found in the metal section.

"This is a big city issue, everybody has to be careful. You don't want
anybody stabbed, you don't want (needles) in the garbage," said McLeod

McLeod thinks the city and non-profit groups like Blood Ties and the
Outreach Van, which also pick up needles, are handling the situation
well though.

"Its part of working in the 2000s it's no different from working
in Vancouver or anywhere else."

Vancouver, like Whitehorse, has a liberal needle exchange program that
aims to ensure users do not spread HIV and Hepatitis C by sharing needles.

Modern needle exchange programs have stopped requiring users to bring
in a needle for every new needle they receive. Now users are simply
given whatever needles they require.

A recent City of Vancouver report on street cleaning in the infamous
Downtown Eastside says that Vancouver's needle exchange policy "has
created a healthier and safer environment for drug users but has also
resulted in a significant number of used syringes and other drug
paraphernalia discarded in the public realm."

McLeod said he has also seen an increased number of discarded needles
in Whitehorse.

But the risk posed by discarded needles is far less than the benefit
the needle exchange program gives to the community, said Blood Ties
executive director Patricia Bacon.

"You have to look at the big picture."

That picture includes the fact few people have ever been stabbed by a
discarded needle while many people are infected with HIV and Hepatitis
C through sharing needles.

While Bacon said it is impossible to prove how many people the needle
exchange has kept from contracting the diseases, it is well accepted
the program has significant value.

In the year-plus that she has been running the centre Bacon has not
heard of a single case of a person accidentally stabbing themselves
with a discarded needle. Nor has Hnatiuk, who said neither the parks
staff trained to handle needles nor their co-workers have been stabbed
to his knowledge.

Bacon suggested more needle disposal boxes placed strategically
throughout the city could lower the number of randomly discarded needles.

And while Blood Ties only receives a bit more than $6,000 a year for
its needle program, the cost to treat someone with Hepatitis C is five
times as much, said Colleen Hemsley, a communicable disease officer
with health and social services.

Treating someone with Hep C costs upwards of $30,000 a year, she
explained.

"It's a long treatment, either six months or close to a year," she
said.

That cost climbs if the infected user requires a liver transplant, a
long-term risk of Hepatitis C.

Over 65 per cent of people with Hepatitis C are intravenous drug
users, she said.

If you come across a used needle don't touch it. Call Blood Ties at
633-2437, or the Outreach Van at 667-1333 after hours. While the
Outreach Van only operates Tuesday and Thursday. Bacon said that MLA
Brad Cathers has promised to extend that service to six nights a week.