1.5 million needles in city trash each year, most from diabetics

By Kim Geronimo

One and a half million used hypodermic needles find their way into Somerville’s trash each year. Most are thrown into household trash – a few take a more unconventional route down the toilet. But recently, more and more hypodermic needles have found their way onto city streets, particularly in the Ten Hills and Winter Hill neighborhoods, according to residents and officials.

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, residents, aldermen and other officials gathered in City Hall for a public hearing to discuss the possible installation of a needle disposal kiosk in a public location such as a pharmacy, hospital, or local health center. No decision was reached, however, and the meeting was recessed and scheduled to re-adjourn on Oct. 16.

City Health Director Noreen Burke said the state would fund a kiosk for the first year, after which the city would have to take on the maintenance costs.

Among the residents who testified, there was wide support for the initiative. Kristi Chase, a Type I diabetic, said she hoped for a safer way to dispose of her needles and sharps. Specifically, she said, she wanted kiosks to be easily accessible and convenient. “I don’t want to walk half way across town” to reach a kiosk, she said.

On the other hand, Somerville resident Michael Wasters had some reservations about the program. As a tax payer, he wondered why the city should shoulder the financial burden of the kiosk. “The people who sell needles should pay for it” he said, “if you’re going to sell them, you’ve got to help us get rid of them.”

The initiative also may not address the concerns of many residents about the increasing number of used hypodermic needles that have been found on the sidewalks and playgrounds of Somerville. Acting Police Chief Robert R. Bradley said residents are worried that they or their children will get pricked by these needles, most of which are dropped by heroin addicts.

“It is unrealistic to think that it will solve the problems of the city,” he said, referring to the problem of substance abusers throwing out used hypodermic needles on the streets. “These people are homeless” and it is unlikely that they will follow proper disposal procedures, he said.

Bradley said the problem ballooned with the Massachusetts general law, effective in September 2006, that now allows hypodermic needles to be sold without a prescription to anyone over the age of 18. The law aimed to reduce the spread of infectious diseases by eliminating the practice of shared needles. However, because of the easy access to new needles, substance abusers no longer hold onto the old syringes and onto the streets they go.

According to Bradley, the police department had recorded 30 incidents of needles found on city streets from January 2006 to the end of November of 2006. But from January 2007 until the present, 130 incidents had been recorded – over four times the 2006 number – and the numbers are still rising, he said.

Maureen Foster said she was concerned about the problem at the hearing. “It’s not easy to enforce the kiosk law” she said, adding that it was unlikely addicts would use the kiosk, especially if it was monitored by law enforcement officials. She also said she was worried “the kiosk is a substitute for preventive treatment programs” for substance abusers.

Officials at the hearing said needles disposed by drug addicts constitute a small percentage of the equation. Of the 1.5 million needles disposed every year in Somerville trash, 1.4 million are generated by diabetics. Brian Green, the chair of the Board of Health, said the kiosk program was not an attempt to provide a direct solution to the problem of substance abusers and syringes on the streets. The kiosk initiative was about “addressing much bigger amounts [of needles] that get into landfills” and eventually into beaches and rivers, he said