'It's raining needles': Drug crisis creates pollution threat

[edjr 5,547]

 

LOWELL, Mass. (AP) -- They hide in weeds along hiking trails and in playground grass. They wash into rivers and float downstream to land on beaches. They pepper baseball dugouts, sidewalks and streets. Syringes left by drug users amid the heroin crisis are turning up everywhere.

In Portland, Maine, officials have collected more than 700 needles so far this year, putting them on track to handily exceed the nearly 900 gathered in all of 2016. In March alone, San Francisco collected more than 13,000 syringes, compared with only about 2,900 the same month in 2016.

People, often children, risk getting stuck by discarded needles, raising the prospect they could contract blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis or HIV or be exposed to remnants of heroin or other drugs.

It's unclear whether anyone has gotten sick, but the reports of children finding the needles can be sickening in their own right. One 6-year-old girl in California mistook a discarded syringe for a thermometer and put it in her mouth; she was unharmed.

"I just want more awareness that this is happening," said Nancy Holmes, whose 11-year-old daughter stepped on a needle in Santa Cruz, California, while swimming. "You would hear stories about finding needles at the beach or being poked at the beach. But you think that it wouldn't happen to you. Sure enough."

They are a growing problem in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, two states that have seen many overdose deaths in recent years.

"We would certainly characterize this as a health hazard," said Tim Soucy, health director in Manchester, New Hampshire's largest city, which collected 570 needles in 2016, the first year it began tracking the problem. It has found 247 needles so far this year.

Needles turn up in places like parks, baseball diamonds, trails and beaches — isolated spots where drug users can gather and attract little attention, and often the same spots used by the public for recreation. The needles are tossed out of carelessness or the fear of being prosecuted for possessing them.

One child was poked by a needle left on the grounds of a Utah elementary school. Another youngster stepped on one while playing on a beach in New Hampshire.

Even if adults or children don't get sick, they still must endure an unsettling battery of tests to make sure they didn't catch anything. The girl who put a syringe in her mouth was not poked but had to be tested for hepatitis B and C, her mother said.

Some community advocates are trying to sweep up the pollution.

Rocky Morrison leads a cleanup effort along the Merrimack River, which winds through the old milling city of Lowell, and has recovered hundreds of needles in abandoned homeless camps that dot the banks, as well as in piles of debris that collect in floating booms he recently started setting.

He has a collection of several hundred needles in a fishbowl, a prop he uses to illustrate that the problem is real and that towns must do more to combat it.

"We started seeing it last year here and there. But now, it's just raining needles everywhere we go," said Morrison, a burly, tattooed construction worker whose Clean River Project has six boats working parts of the 117-mile (188-kilometer) river.

Among the oldest tracking programs is in Santa Cruz, California, where the community group Take Back Santa Cruz has reported finding more than 14,500 needles in the county over the past 4 1/2 years. It says it has gotten reports of 12 people getting stuck, half of them children.

"It's become pretty commonplace to find them. We call it a rite of passage for a child to find their first needle," said Gabrielle Korte, a member of the group's needle team. "It's very depressing. It's infuriating. It's just gross."

Some experts say the problem will ease only when more users get treatment and more funding is directed to treatment programs.

Others are counting on needle exchange programs, now present in more than 30 states, or the creation of safe spaces to shoot up — already introduced in Canada and proposed by U.S. state and city officials from New York to Seattle.

Studies have found that needle exchange programs can reduce pollution, said Don Des Jarlais, a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai hospital in New York.

But Morrison and Korte complain poor supervision at needle exchanges will simply put more syringes in the hands of people who may not dispose of them properly.

After complaints of discarded needles, Santa Cruz County took over its exchange from a nonprofit in 2013 and implemented changes. It did away with mobile exchanges and stopped allowing drug users to get needles without turning in an equal number of used ones, said Jason Hoppin, a spokesman for Santa Cruz County.

Along the Merrimack, nearly three dozen riverfront towns are debating how to stem the flow of needles. Two regional planning commissions are drafting a request for proposals for a cleanup plan. They hope to have it ready by the end of July.

"We are all trying to get a grip on the problem," said Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini. "The stuff comes from somewhere. If we can work together to stop it at the source, I am all for it."

 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/raining-needles-drug-crisis-creates-050718525.html

 

 

disgusting focking slobs. Still not want them dead?

 

Don't worry though. CVS and Walgreens sell brand new needles for cheap. Some even give them away,

Can't have junkbags getting sick now can we?

[iam90sbaby 2,120]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

We should help them. Not throw them in jail and throw away the key.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

We should help them. Not throw them in jail and throw away the key.

Help them how?

[posty 2,296]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

We should help them. Not throw them in jail and throw away the key.

I agree... Arrest them and kill them, that is what they are doing anyway...

[iam90sbaby 2,120]

Help them how?

 

I don't know, never messed with drugs like that so I can't speak from experience. I am sure there are a lot of better ways than just throwing them in jail and hoping they get better though.

[fandandy 3,311]

 

I don't know, never messed with drugs like that so I can't speak from experience. I am sure there are a lot of better ways than just throwing them in jail and hoping they get better though.

Heroin has a 20% recovery rate of the 20% of addicts who actually seek treatment. You don't lock them up in hopes they get better, you lock them up because they are focking morons and they are a danger to society.

[iam90sbaby 2,120]

Heroin has a 20% recovery rate of the 20% of addicts who actually seek treatment. You don't lock them up in hopes they get better, you lock them up because they are focking morons and they are a danger to society.

 

Maybe it is only a 20% recovery rate because the rehabilitation that we offer is terrible? I have a hard time believing the recovery rate is that low in countries that treat it as a mental disorder rather than a crime.

[Thornton Melon 542]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

I'm pretty sure edger's not leaving contaminated needles lying around.

[edjr 5,547]

 

I'm pretty sure edger's not leaving contaminated needles lying around.

 

or getting sick from not doing it, or losing my job, or being poor.

[kilroy69 993]

I feel like this is something government created and the government should step in and focking fix it. In Jackson County Michigan there are 12k plus Opioid perscriptions per 10K residents. That is focking absurd.

[vuduchile 1,940]

 

or getting sick from not doing it, or losing my job, or being poor.

There's still time.

[penultimatestraw 473]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

We should help them. Not throw them in jail and throw away the key.

 

This guy gets it. It's a terrible problem, and ed is really in no position to critique users.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

This guy gets it. It's a terrible problem, and ed is really in no position to critique users.

Go back and read the thread title. These losers get high and dump their diseased garbage where unsuspecting people can come across it. If these needles were scattered among your climbing sites, we all know your opinion would be different.

[edjr 5,547]

Go back and read the thread title. These losers get high and dump their diseased garbage where unsuspecting people can come across it. If these needles were scattered among your climbing sites, we all know your opinion would be different.

 

Nail - head.

 

I am literally scared sometimes when I bring my kid to beach, we are going to come upon, or even worse step on a needle.

 

so, yes, I am in a position to critique junkbag losers that treat their needles like an empty beer can and just toss it aside when done with it.

[penultimatestraw 473]

Go back and read the thread title. These losers get high and dump their diseased garbage where unsuspecting people can come across it. If these needles were scattered among your climbing sites, we all know your opinion would be different.

My point remains.

[mobb_deep 917]

Help them how?

 

Build transparent walls around all of them. Then their needles won't injure people when they throw them out.

[DankNuggs 305]

I remember walking my dog towards the end of my time pre children, pre house, and we came across a needle on the sidewalk. And i remember looking down at it and thinking 'its time to get the hell out of here'... The town i lived in at the time is actually a pretty decent town, but F that noise...

 

 

If i see one in my new town, im moving again

[mobb_deep 917]

I remember walking my dog towards the end of my time pre children, pre house, and we came across a needle on the sidewalk. And i remember looking down at it and thinking 'its time to get the hell out of here'... The town i lived in at the time is actually a pretty decent town, but F that noise...

 

 

If i see one in my new town, im moving again

 

You're going to need to find a deserted island...

[DankNuggs 305]

 

You're going to need to find a deserted island...

[TimmySmith 2,782]

My point remains.

Start another thread.

[listen2me 23 1,530]

Not sure how to fix or help the problem. But I think narcan is overused and becoming ridiculous.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

Not sure how to fix or help the problem. But I think narcan is overused and becoming ridiculous.

Apparently it totally focks those it saves. Not that there is really any choice.

[MTSkiBum 1,593]

You brag about going on cocaine benders all the time, don't act like your any better than them. Hate when people point their finger when their hand is dirty.

 

We should help them. Not throw them in jail and throw away the key.

This.

[TimmySmith 2,782]

This.

All other effects of drugs being equal. Throwing your toxic and potentially deadly apparatus where anyone might mistakingly come upon is a criminal offense beyond the drug use.

[penultimatestraw 473]

All other effects of drugs being equal. Throwing your toxic and potentially deadly apparatus where anyone might mistakingly come upon is a criminal offense beyond the drug use.

It's gross and thoughtless, but the actual danger it poses is pretty damn small. Know of any diseases transmitted by sticks from those discarded needles?

 

Compare that to cigarette butts that have started fires. Or twisted ankles following impromptu kick the can games.

[kilroy69 993]

It's gross and thoughtless, but the actual danger it poses is pretty damn small. Know of any diseases transmitted by sticks from those discarded needles?

 

Compare that to cigarette butts that have started fires. Or twisted ankles following impromptu kick the can games.

About 3 months ago I found a needle in the area where my kid was playing..AT A PLAYGROUND. . STILL FILLED. It was in a spot that was low to the ground and perfect for a little kid to find. I am a pretty good dad and I keep my eyes open like a hawk when it comes to him so before I let him play in that area I did a little check and sure enough it was stuck in a part of the playground equipment that while hard to see was still accessible to kids.

[mobb_deep 917]

About 3 months ago I found a needle in the area where my kid was playing..AT A PLAYGROUND. . STILL FILLED. It was in a spot that was low to the ground and perfect for a little kid to find. I am a pretty good dad and I keep my eyes open like a hawk when it comes to him so before I let him play in that area I did a little check and sure enough it was stuck in a part of the playground equipment that while hard to see was still accessible to kids.

 

Was the dope good?

[TimmySmith 2,782]

About 3 months ago I found a needle in the area where my kid was playing..AT A PLAYGROUND. . STILL FILLED. It was in a spot that was low to the ground and perfect for a little kid to find. I am a pretty good dad and I keep my eyes open like a hawk when it comes to him so before I let him play in that area I did a little check and sure enough it was stuck in a part of the playground equipment that while hard to see was still accessible to kids.

No danger and edjr's persona does far worse.

[kilroy69 993]

 

Was the dope good?

Hahaha. It was super excellent. I shot up right there on the spot. Now I have a wonderful and new addiction that causes me to pass out in front of my kid and put his life in danger routinely.

 

 

Also. I emptied the needle into a toilet and took the needle to meijer. They have a sharps deposit spot. I honestly had never come across anything like that in my life. ever. And its not like I am living in a large town. I live in the most podunk town you can think of. Its a step away from mayberry rfd.

[mobb_deep 917]

Hahaha. It was super excellent. I shot up right there on the spot. Now I have a wonderful and new addiction that causes me to pass out in front of my kid and put his life in danger routinely.

 

 

Also. I emptied the needle into a toilet and took the needle to meijer. They have a sharps deposit spot. I honestly had never come across anything like that in my life. ever. And its not like I am living in a large town. I live in the most podunk town you can think of. Its a step away from mayberry rfd.

 

Yah. The whole opiate crisis is out of control. No town or city is safe. I live in one of the most conservative cities in California, and have several friends who have either died, gone to prison, or gone to rehab. One of my closest buddies is in a Texas rehab right now.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

My dad was basically a slumlord when I was a kid. Had whole blocks of ghetto that he owned damn near every house.

 

He used to tell us "we have an eviction Saturday. Get every friend you have that wants $10 an hour." My friends all loved it.

 

Once, we got in the house. There were needles everywhere. And an AIDS counseling card. Dad said "boys, go sit in the car. I'll still pay you, but you can't come in here."

 

His employees had four pairs of work gloves on, and emptied that house using shovels.