I don’t know about you, but I thought addicts were notoriously irresponsible about disposing of used needles. From everything I’ve heard in the media and at community meetings, our parks, playgrounds, schoolyards and front lawns are practically carpeted in used needles.
There’s no question some needles are ending up in those places. But apparently it’s not because drug users, on the whole, are irresponsible about how they dispose of their needles. According to a new report by the local public health department, Ottawa’s addicts properly disposed of half a million needles last year.
Check out my flash file :
By the way, Dr. Gabor Maté will be speaking at the Centretown Community Health Centre on Wednesday evening at 7:00 as part of Octopus Books’ anniversary celebration. Dr. Maté is an expert on addiction and treats addicts in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side.
And here I thought the addicts were re-using all those needles. BTW how old is Octopus? It used to be my favourite haunt when I was younger than my youngest child and energetic enough to be a very leftist nationalistic feminist. My thinking hasn’t changed all that much but now I need vitamins to get through each day. It’s up to the young’uns to attend winter rallies or picket in the rain these days.
Damn! I’m already double-booked for Wednesday.
I saw this in the news also, and it is damn good data, especially in the face of Mayor Zero’s insistence that public health cover their eyes when considering ways of dealing with crack pipes.
– RG>