Some think used needles will be safer if they look different. Others say it’s missing the point | CBC News

Alex Song says it would be helpful for communities to make needles more visibly recognizable — and could lower the chance of people getting pricked.

The community developer is with a grassroots group known as the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative (DWCC).

Song says his team has a regular presence across the core with a focus on Bruce Avenue Park and Mitchell Park.

“When you’re talking about parks, you’re talking about garbage, you’re talking about small children, you’re talking about open public spaces,” said Song. 

“Anything you can do to make something discarded and potentially very dangerous as a needle more visible, is going to help.”

According to Song, garbage in downtown Windsor is a big concern for many residents and it prevents them from feeling safe and using public spaces “the way they should be used.”

“Discarded needles are probably the most dangerous type of garbage out there. But overall, the garbage issue that we’re trying to deal with is a big concern for our organization and for the residents of downtown, according to our research.”

Windsor West MP Brian Masse recently sent an “exploratory” letter to Canada’s new health minister, Liberal Mark Holland, asking for the government to consider identification marker technology for needles. 

“What happens right now is that the colouring on the cap for safety is often discarded, and when people are doing the clean ups, they can either get poked or they can get injected,” said Masse, who added he was prompted to reach out to the health minister after a conversation with Ward 3 Windsor City Councillor Renaldo Agostino.

“You’ll find these needles in concentrated areas and there’s a lot of them … but oftentimes it’s never just one needle … and you’re walking around and you’re picking them up and then you take a step to the left, and because someone didn’t put the orange safety cap back on the needle, you almost step on it,” according to Agostino. “And that’s what happened to me.” 

Agostino says he wonders from a technological standpoint what could make used needles safer for people.

“Are we expecting people who are using these substances to be responsible enough to put the orange caps on? And if we are, that’s an issue.”

A harm reduction program coordinator in Windsor says while she likes the idea of making needles more visible, she’s unsure how much of a difference it would make.

“I think that would be really hard to gauge,” said Anastasia Adams, with the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families.

“I also think that it would be kind of a minimal safety measure.”

Adams says she believes the bigger conversation that needs to be had is why people are finding discarded needles in public places.

“It’s meant to overall improve safety, which is great. I understand the intent and it’s trying to address a problem that people are coming to our municipal officials with … but it’s just a symptom of a larger problem.”

Windsor’s Pozitive Pathways Community Services says it’s unaware of any recent needle pricks involving used needles in the community.

Michael Brennan, executive director for the harm-reduction organization, says education is key to the community understanding how to mitigate used needles.

And that their agency continues to work with public health and health-care providers to monitor similar incidents and data.

“I have [also] not been made aware of an increase in the number of needles being found in our community outside of one property (and adjacent area) in the downtown area that has yet to be confirmed,” said Brennan. 

He says if Masse and/or Agostino do hear back from the health minister he’d encourage them to focus on building capacity on “failed drug policy issues,” and ensuring people have alternatives to purchasing from the “toxic drug supply.”

Masse says he hopes, at the very least, the letter can provide some public awareness — and maybe manufacturers can come up with alternatives.

“I know that there is packaging and other labels that go across some of the different ones for different types of medicines. And so perhaps that can be appropriated on the needle itself or another feature of the device so that when it’s discarded, it’s not just translucent.”

You found a needle in Windsor. Now what?

Adams says it’s important to call 311 and report whenever you find a needle, even if it’s not on city property and on personal property.

“So that we can make decisions like, well, maybe we do need a community needle disposal box in that particular park or that particular neighborhood. You don’t know that if you’re not gathering the data and having information to share with the city.”

For more information, Brennan recommends heading to the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) website or the city’s page for disposal of sharps, syringes, or hypodermic needles.