YELLOW LIGHT

Cautious Pilot Program Is The Proper Way To Go

The Worcester City Council made the right decision Tuesday night to
implement, on a limited basis, a program intended to provide the
public with a safe and secure means to dispose of used hypodermic
needles and syringes.

The unanimous vote to start Operation Yellow Box as a six-month pilot
program caps three years of sometimes contentious debate.

Instead of the eight boxes originally proposed, four boxes will be
installed next month, all inside health-related facilities, including
AIDS Project Worcester on Green Street, Great Brook Valley Community
Health Center on Tacoma Street and the Family Health Center on Queen
Street. A fourth site will be chosen and presented to the council by
Jan. 30.

The vote is timely. The state is planning to require all communities
to have a disposal program for needles and syringes because they soon
will be banned from the regular municipal waste stream.

Grants will cover the cost of the program, up to $10,000 a year. If
the cost exceeds that, the state Department of Public Health and
private sponsors are expected to step in.

The city administration and Public Health Department properly will
monitor the program and assess its effectiveness.

Operation Yellow Box is far from a panacea, but it promises to be a
useful public health tool.