Vancouver is a great city, though but despite several visits I was unaware of the extent of its drug-related problems.

Thousands of used needles are being tossed on the ground in Metro Vancouver, often in places where children play.

Numbers obtained by CTV News from Vancouver Coastal Health show that:

• Nearly 140,000 needles were picked up off the ground in 2013.
• The next year, another 130,000 were reported
• Last year, a staggering 250,000 were found.

read more at: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/250k-used-needles-found-on-the-ground-in-vancouver-last-year-1.2875196

Congratulations to the Vancouver city authorities for their efforts though in all probability this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What about other cities around the world. Counting the number of needles might seem an onerous task but could be a particularly useful metric.