Discarded needles are not a new issue to Penticton.
For years now, the public has voiced its concern and immense frustration regarding the severity of the drug issue in Penticton to city hall—most concerning being the scores of discarded needles all over.
Each attempt by city hall to work with Interior Health to try and come up with solutions is met with what appears to be a denial mentality. The harm reduction program has been little more than a Band-Aid for a much larger problem, and it has turned our streets, parks, pathways, public restrooms and schoolyards into a literal biohazard.
Time and time again, Interior Health diminishes the problem, passes the buck on to the provincial government and rejects ideas to try and improve the situation.
Recently, a medical health officer from Interior Health, Dr. Silvina Mema, spoke against the idea of handing out vanishing point needles. Interior Health has rejected what would be an immediate increase in public safety, stating that if they begin giving out needles that users don’t like, “they may stop using the program and instead turn to reusing dirty needles.”
Contradicting this statement earlier in that same interview, Mema claimed that Interior Health “does not put the interest of people who use substances above the general community.”
Mema then went on to downplay the needle problem by saying “It’s been laying out in the sun, and if there’s any blood on it, it dries out. There has never been a case of HIV from an improperly discarded needle.”
Of course this particularly flippant comment conveniently skirted around a multitude of other possible needle injury-related diseases and infections that are listed by the CCOHS (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety). So then are we to understand that because the risk of disease is low, that the public should not be concerned about all the needles littering our city? Preposterous.
Would it not be a more logical response from Interior Health to, at very least, provide clean-up services for all these needles they have handed out? Or better yet, enact some sort of incentive for addicts to properly dispose of them in the first place?
The policy and guidelines for harm reduction—found on the B.C. Center for Disease Control website—lists as the B.C. Harm Reduction Services and Strategy’s third main objective, quote; “Health authorities, contracted agencies and community partners will take appropriate steps to protect the public from inappropriately discarded injection equipment and drug paraphernalia.”
Specifically also listed among its policies, quote “8.0- Recovery and safe disposal of syringes. HRSS and community partners will formulate community plans for harm reduction supply disposal.” It goes on to list community plan examples, including “the pickup of discarded supplies from streets, schoolyards, parks and alleys.”
We’re looking at you, Interior Health—the buck stops here. Installing sharps containers isn’t good enough. You helped create this mess, and it’s your job and obligation to be accountable for it.
Robyn Smuin
Penticton