NEEDLE EXCHANGE BOXES STRATEGICALLY PLACED TO KEEP STREETS CLEAN OF SYRINGES

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Discarded needles pose a risk to anyone who could potentially prick
their hands or feet by stumbling onto the used and possibly
disease-infected syringes left behind by drug addicts wandering the
Nanaimo's streets.

Managers from two needle exchange programs report near-perfect return
rates for needles they distribute each week, but not all the drug
paraphernalia comes back. Plus, the two groups are not the only
sources for such items.

City staff recently installed needle drop boxes so addicts would have
a receptacle for their waste, much like the garbage cans provide us
with a place to dump our trash. So far the drop boxes have just over
40 used syringes inside. They can hold 500. City social planner John
Horn expects the numbers to increase once word of the metal bins spreads.

Staff placed the boxes strategically to collect needles from certain
hot spots for addicts, including downtown on Terminal Avenue, Cavan
Street and Deverill Square Park, but there are many areas where
needles are still collected by residents almost every day.

Staff at Pauline Haarer Elementary School routinely comb school
property to clean up after neighbouring squatters who leave behind
syringes. Needles can still be found along Victoria Road, near the
Terminal Avenue overpass and in Nob Hill Park. There may be several
hot spots, but addicts are known to use in just about any sheltered
area anywhere in the city.

Whether people support harm reduction, needles seem to have become a
large part of communities across the country. The School Workers
Health and Safety Guide advises school districts to "exercise special
precautions in handling such materials." Contact with such items can
spread hepatitis B, hepatitis C and AIDS, which is why school
principals ask students to report any discarded needles to their teachers.

Sources: Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety,
Safedmonton Initiatives, City of Nanaimo, Nanaimo Women's Centre,
Needle Exchange Nanaimo Street Outreach, Tillicum Haus

Safe Needle Disposal

1. Do not put the cap back on the needle.

Do not remove the needle.

2. Carefully pick up the needle with tongs or tweezers, or call
Nanaimo public works for help.

3. Put the needle in a hard-sided plastic container, such as a
shampoo or soap bottle, and tightly seal and label it

4. Take the needle to a Needle Exchange Nanaimo Street Outreach at 60
Cavan Street or Call Nanaimo Public Works department at 250-758-5222
or take the needle to one of the needle drop boxes.