10,000 dirty needles dumped every month
By Paul Robinson
DRUG addicts are dumping more than 10,000 dirty needles on the streets of
Leeds
every MONTH, new figures revealed today.
Since the start of April, the city council's cleansing teams have collected nearly 90,000 needles.
That means the total number removed from
Leeds
's roads, parks and other open spaces is on course to top the 130,000 mark during the 12 months up until the end of next March.
Between April 1 2004 and March 31 this year, the total was 94,118.
Today, though, council chiefs said the soaring number of needles being recovered should not be taken as proof that hard drug use in the city was increasing at the same rate.
Instead, they said that the shift was down to a significant rise in the number of calls being made to their collection hotline.
Coun Steve Smith, the council's executive board member for city services, said: I am very glad that the message is getting through to the public that they can easily report discarded needles, and we are extremely grateful for their vigilance.
Parts of
Leeds
where the problem has previously been identified as being particularly bad include Chapeltown, Armley, Beeston and Holbeck.
Blackspots
The LS1 and LS2 postcode areas have also been pinpointed as blackspots, while an incredible 1,600 needles were once discovered at a single site on Servia Hill, Little London.
A number of pharmacies across
Leeds
operate needle exchange schemes.
They are: Lloyds Pharmacy, on Mill Green View, Stanks; Cohen's Chemist, on Oakwood Lane, Oakwood; Moss Pharmacy, on Beeston Road, Beeston; Living Care Pharmacy, on Dewsbury Road, Beeston; Broad Ing Pharmacy, on Otley Road, Guiseley; RW Pullan, on Brudenell Road, Hyde Park; Andrew Tylee, on Hyde Park Road, Hyde Park; and Medichem Pharmacy, on Newton Parade, Chapeltown.
An exchange scheme is also run by the
West Leeds
Community Drugs Service, based on
Upper Town Street
in Bramley.
Drop-off needle safes, meanwhile, can be found at Bramley Community Centre, Cottingley Community Health Centre, Chapeltown Health Centre, and the St Anne's Drugs Project base on
York Street
, near Quarry Hill.
To report discarded needles, ring the council free on 0800 138 6227.
[email protected]
http://www.leeds-dat.org.uk/dat_hp03_03.asp
Needle Exchange -
Hyde Park
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
RW Pullan Chemist,
58 Brudenell Road
, Hyde Park,
Leeds,
LS6 1EG
Needle Exchange -
Hyde Park
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Andrew Tylee Chemist 25
Hyde Park Road, Leeds,
LS6 1PY
Needle Exchange - Chapeltown
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Medichem, 4/5
Newton
Parade,
Chapeltown Road, Leeds,
LS7 4JA
Needle Exchange - Oakwood
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Cohens Chemist,
368 Oakwood Lane
, Oakwood,
Leeds,
LS8 3LF
Needle Exchange - Beeston
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Moss Pharmacy,
132 Beeston Road
, Beeston,
Leeds,
LS11 8BB
Needle Exchange - Seacroft
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Lloyds Pharmacy, Windmill Health Centre, Mill Green View, Seacroft,
Leeds,
LS14 5JS
Needle Exchange - Guiseley
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Broad Ing Pharmacy,
26 Otley Road
, Guiseley,
Leeds,
LS20 8AP
Needle Exchange - Rothwell
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Naseems Chemist,
31 Commercial Street
, Rothwell,
Leeds,
LS26 OAP
Needle Exchange - Stanningley
Provision of clean needles and syringes, individual sharp bins, disposal of used works. Confidential and free service.
Sunfield Pharmacy, The Sunfield Medical Centre,
Sunfield Place
, Stanningley,
Leeds,
LS28 6DE
Discarded Needles Helpline
Safe collection of discarded needles anywhere in
Leeds
0800 138 6227
|
The Cairns Post/The Cairns Sun (
)
December 3, 2005 Saturday
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1
Syringe city;
DRUG USERS IGNORE NEEDLE BINS AS HUNDEREDS THROWN AWAY IN STREETS SURROUNDING CITY CBD;
Drug users not dumping syringes in bins
By Sonia Campbell
CITY Place has been revealed as
Cairns
's biggest drug shooting gallery with 1000 syringes discarded since January in toilets and streets surrounding the inner city mall.
Addicts are also dumping hundreds of used syringes at many of the city's other popular public places, including the Esplanade near Muddy's playground and the city library.
The figures were released this week by Cairns City Council after an audit of its sharps disposal bin program.
>From January to October the highest number of needles placed in sharps containers in public toilets in Cairns and south of the city were -
City Place
(700),
McKenzie St
(188),
Lennon
Park
in
West Cairns
(129), and Greenpatch at Gordonvale (100).
While the council says the figures confirm the sharps disposal program is working, alarmingly hundreds more used syringes are being discarded carelessly on the ground and in gardens in various public places.
Most of them were found at
City Place
(300), the Esplanade from Muddy's to the pirate ship (100), City library (100), and old library site on
Lake St
(100).
"These figures that we've got are basically for the southern and city areas and we're waiting on the northern areas," Cr Margaret Cochrane said yesterday.
Cr Cochrane said while the
City Place
figure of 300 syringes found improperly discarded was of particular concern, it wasn't "disturbing". "It's only one improperly discarded needle a day. Which shows that the (sharps) receptacles are being utilised to their intent and the current program is working where the receptacles are," she said.
However, she said in light of the figures, the council would monitor the area more closely.
"There would be an opportunity to view the footage on the (security) cameras ... and our staff just need to be a little bit more aware of what's going on."
Dianne Forsyth from the Cairns Addiction Help Agency said while any used syringe found in a public place was a concern, the numbers being found were quite low, given that about 500,000 needles were issued to the city's IV drug users in the needle exchange program each year.
"If you look at the number of (discarded) needles that we're actually collecting, I'm assuming that most are disposing of them safely somewhere else," Ms Forsyth said.
She said more education material supplied to those accessing the city's needle program, could be one solution.
Cairns Mayor Kevin Byrne said the results of the audit would be used to determine other areas where sharps disposal bins were needed.
The top shooting galleries
Locations with the highest number of used syringes placed in sharps containers in public toilets - from January to October 2005.
City Place - 700
McKenzie Street
- 188
Lennom
Park
- 129
Spence Street
- 125
Greenpatch, Gordonvale - 100
Johnson Pk
, Gordonvale - 30
City Library - 17
Muddy's Playground - 13
Posted September 07, 2006
|
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