Recently, Courtney, a four year old girl from one of the estates that ring our city, picked up a used works, complete with pin, that she found dumped in a park near her house. Courtney was no stranger to syringes and needles. She had previously received treatment for a rare form of cancer. A treatment that had involved her being given lots and lots of injections. In fact, she had a real thing about injections. When she found this works, she gave herself some injections.

Her parents and other local residents were outraged, and not unreasonably. They even talked about getting a petition up, calling for DNA testing of discarded syringes, and a change in the law that would allow the police to trace and prosecute people who disposed of used works in public places. Courtney is okay now and has not caught anything nasty from her experiment.

But this kind of shit, dumping works in public places – streets, playgrounds, parks, empty houses and so on – is completely out of fucking order. And what’s more everyone knows it. I wouldn’t like my kid picking up a works, would you?

Beyond this effect, there’s the knock on for needle exchange services. It’s this kind of behaviour that makes local communities say stuff like, "Why should we have a needle exchange here? All the bastards do is get fresh tackle and throw the old ones where our kids can find ‘em. Them exchanges create the problem in the first place". So:





If you’re a non-user, or ex-user who doesn’t want any reminders, and you find discarded syringes, phone your local council’s Environmental Health Department and report where you’ve found them. They’ll come and remove them. If you can’t do that or don’t mind doing it yourself, take a strong container (ideally a sharps bin, if you happen to have one in your shopping bag), pick the syringe up by the barrel and dispose of it. Taking care not to stab yourself accidentally with it. If you do get a needlestick injury, get down to your GP or A&E fast.