News (Media Awareness Project) - CN BC: Needle Drop Box First In Province |
| Title: | CN BC: Needle Drop Box First In Province |
| Published On: | 2003-06-27 |
| Source: | Kamloops This Week (CN BC) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-20 02:54:08 |
NEEDLE DROP BOX FIRST IN PROVINCE
Kamloops is the first city in the province to install needle drop boxes.
Attached to the wall outside the Street Clinic on Lansdowne Street, the
$200 box has been in the making for the past two years, says communicable
disease program leader Nora Walker.
The box is an effort to protect citizens from used hypodermic needles,
which are occasionally found scattered throughout the downtown.
"This is the first one I can think of in B.C.," Walker says, adding the
City of Kamloops along with the Kamloops Central Business Improvement
Association have been looking into using the first box as a prototype and
placing additional receptacles throughout the city.
If the box is well used, another will likely be installed at Riverside
Park, says Kamloops Central BIA president Patrick Lindsay.
"It is a really good first step. The program is to do with safety," he
says, adding he's not worried a tourist will see a needle drop-off box and
assume Kamloops has a huge problem with discarded needles.
In fact, he figures the average person should be reassured the community is
getting together to make the city safer.
"I think the tourist would be more offended if they came across a used
needle . . . it's not the best solution, but it's a step in the right
direction.
"You're never going to get rid of all the needles."
Native HIV liaison worker Barry James co-ordinates the needle exchange out
of the Native Health Centre on the North Shore. While he admits the box is
a success if even one stray needle finds its way in, he says the needle
problem in Kamloops is much better today than ever before.
He credits the legwork he and other outreach workers have been doing.
"With all of the work we've done, most of the clients are in the habit of
bringing the needles back," he says.
Three years ago, in one shift he could gather up to 30 needles, whereas
today he rarely finds more than a handful. "I can't see a real big need for
it, but if it's going to catch even a few needles that's better than having
a few needles out on the street."
Kamloops is the first city in the province to install needle drop boxes.
Attached to the wall outside the Street Clinic on Lansdowne Street, the
$200 box has been in the making for the past two years, says communicable
disease program leader Nora Walker.
The box is an effort to protect citizens from used hypodermic needles,
which are occasionally found scattered throughout the downtown.
"This is the first one I can think of in B.C.," Walker says, adding the
City of Kamloops along with the Kamloops Central Business Improvement
Association have been looking into using the first box as a prototype and
placing additional receptacles throughout the city.
If the box is well used, another will likely be installed at Riverside
Park, says Kamloops Central BIA president Patrick Lindsay.
"It is a really good first step. The program is to do with safety," he
says, adding he's not worried a tourist will see a needle drop-off box and
assume Kamloops has a huge problem with discarded needles.
In fact, he figures the average person should be reassured the community is
getting together to make the city safer.
"I think the tourist would be more offended if they came across a used
needle . . . it's not the best solution, but it's a step in the right
direction.
"You're never going to get rid of all the needles."
Native HIV liaison worker Barry James co-ordinates the needle exchange out
of the Native Health Centre on the North Shore. While he admits the box is
a success if even one stray needle finds its way in, he says the needle
problem in Kamloops is much better today than ever before.
He credits the legwork he and other outreach workers have been doing.
"With all of the work we've done, most of the clients are in the habit of
bringing the needles back," he says.
Three years ago, in one shift he could gather up to 30 needles, whereas
today he rarely finds more than a handful. "I can't see a real big need for
it, but if it's going to catch even a few needles that's better than having
a few needles out on the street."
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