Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The city hands out, no questions asked, an enormous number of needles, more than 2 million per year at last count. The reason: the city has an estimated 25,000 injection drug users. Among this crowd, shared needles can pass along hepatitis and HIV, but clean syringes will cut down on infection. It's a real-world accommodation to the drug abuse that exists.
This humane and well-intended program has run for years, but it has reached the breaking point as far as public trust. Why? Because dirty needles show up in public places where users congregate and toss them away.
They're on sidewalks, lawns, in alleys and doorways. Intended to minimize risk, the needles can do just the opposite, if a tainted one jabs a passerby accidentally. This risk is hard to measure because there are no firm numbers on accidental infections from dirty needles.
But the tossed-out syringes come with symbolic value. What kind of city allows its population to freely dump such potentially deadly waste on the civic lap? Parents, pedestrians, visitors - just about anyone - must wonder what sort of geniuses run City Hall when they step over one on the ground. Right now, the program amounts to a giveaway with no requirement or provisions for returning the needles or disposing of them safely. If users won't take responsibility, then the city needs to step in.
It's past time to clean up a program that the public has generally supported. Several steps are worth trying though not all may work.
First, users need to return the needles for safe disposal. More clinics are needed to handle this task though no neighborhood wants such activity. Metal carry kits can allow users to store used syringes until they can be returned.
Also, homeless workers and park clean-up crews should be equipped with disposal boxes. The city should strongly consider the higher cost of retractable needles that can minimize the danger of accidental jabs - though users prefer the customary design. It's a sad commentary on San Francisco's politics that we even have to say that public safety must take priority over the addicts' preferences.
It's time to tighten up this program before it leads to a loss of innocent life.
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