NEEDLE DISPOSAL PROGRAM LAUNCHED

A new program is under way to get inner-city junkies to safely dispose of
their dirty needles.

Capital Health, city hall and city police will start providing used needle
receptacles in the hopes of curbing the number of used needles littering
the inner city.

Dirty needles pose a public health risk, because they're occasionally
contaminated with killer disease agents like HIV.

"People who use needles sometimes care about the health of others. We hope
they will use (the receptacles)," said Dr. Marsha Johnson, deputy medical
officer of health for Capital Health.

"It's also a place for people who find needles to dispose of them."

In 1997, a man found two hypodermic needles in a phone booth and was told
by police to deal with them himself.

Police later went on the record saying the public should never touch
abandoned needles.

There will be an educational poster campaign to instruct the public on how
to properly dispose of used needles, said Mary Angus, a public health nurse
involved in the program.

"We have no expectations of the public, and the education program will tell
children never to touch a needle, but to get an adult," Angus said. The
program - which will start tomorrow - has been successful in cities like
Calgary, Angus said.

In Edmonton, the program will start with receptacles at the Bissel Centre
and the Urban Manor.

There are 18 other receptacles available to any communities that want them,
Angus said.

The Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission says there are more than
10,000 intravenous drug users in Edmonton.

Last year, the city's needle exchange program collected more than 800,000
dirty needles.

Police Chief Bob Wasylyshen has lobbied to establish a needle park in
Edmonton - a place where addicts could safely and legally shoot up - to
help contain the problem.