A MILLION NEEDLES ON OUR STREETS

ONE million dirty heroin needles were dumped on Scotland's streets
last year. And last night, critics called for a clampdown on clinics
who give out free needles to addicts. Needles are exchanged in around
200 clinics to stop the spread of hepatitis C. But workers can also
give needles at their own discretion. As a result, addicts do not
always have to return dirty needles in order to pick up clean ones.
Almost a third of the 2.9million needles given out to drug addicts by
clinics in 2005 were not disposed of in the special bins provided.
Professor Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Drug Misuse, said:
"Giving ever more needles to drug users does not seem to me to be
sensible. Advertisement "In many communities there is an increasing
problem with discarded needles and syringes, creating a danger to
people, particularly children, of catching hepatitis C." But a
Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Needle exchanges are an
essential part of strategies aimed at reducing blood-borne infections."