On the Clinical Waste Discussion Forum we have often reported on needle finds in a diversity of locations. Parks and gardens, playgrounds, car parks, alleyways and beaches etc are commonly affected locations. Though we will continue to report those which we believe carry some particular interest or learning point there are so many of these, occurring daily, that it no longer becomes newsworthy unless these happen to involve your own locality.

So now, it becomes not where, but how many?

And to kick things off, how about the Birmingham park from where volunteers picked up no less than 700 needles!

“More than 700 needles have been found during a community clean-up of a Birmingham park.

Empty bottles of methadone were also found among the narcotics gear at Highgate Park by volunteers who spent ten weeks clearing the grounds to “restore some pride” to the neighbourhood.

The abundance of dangerous drugs paraphernalia prompted one exasperated visitor, called ‘Neil’, to leave a note to addicts pleading with them to stop.”

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/700-needles-found-highgate-park-7804084

The drug problem is now a genie that will never go back in its bag. At the lowest end of this issue are the street drug users who are those tossing their needles and syringes away as in Birmingham.

Clearly, needles and syringes are not in short supply. No doubt these are being issues quite freely, and rightly so as an important step in disease reduction through elimination of needle sharing. Most communities have accepted this, in some quarters begrudgingly, so why not sharps bins in needle hotspots?

There now seems to be much resistance to this last step “which panders for illegal activity, reduces the value of our homes, and degrades the locality”.

But does it? Or does it help minimise problems that are in effect far worse?

Placing secure sharps bins in key locations is an important safety measure, as much as the provision of clean needles to addicts. So too is the provision of safe injection premises, “shooting galleries”, and needle exchange schemes that operate more rigorously on a one in, one out basis.

Managing drug problems is a hugely complex and costly process but only joined up measures will have any chance of success that do not create additional and consequential problems, as in Birmingham.