SAFER DISPOSAL OF SYRINGES: ONE APPROACH

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle (July 29, 2007) reports there are lots of used needles and syringes littering Golden Gate Park in areas drug users frequent. No serious advocate of needle and syringe exchange ever claimed it would be a panacea, but we know from experience with such programs throughout the world that they indeed cut down considerably the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users. As for safer disposal, one approach is – as the Homeless Youth Coalition has suggested – utilization of strategically placed biohazard boxes. They too are not a perfect solution, but they help. As an illustration of how widespread their use is, such boxes have been located in QANTAS business class(!) lounge toilets, and on the British Columbia Ferries fleet.