Addicts dump 800 needles a day in city

Published on Friday 29 August 2008 10:21

ALMOST 800 used needles are being dumped by drug addicts in Edinburgh every day, it emerged today.

New statistics show that of the 500,000 syringes handed out under needle exchange programmes last year, fewer than half were returned for safe disposal.

The figures, obtained by the Evening News under the Freedom of Information Act, have led to calls for a stricter controls to be implemented at the exchange.

Programmes were introduced across the country in a bid to make sure heroin addicts who were going to take the drug anyway were at least using clean needles.

It was hailed as a great stride forward in reducing the risk of catching diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, which plagued Edinburgh in the 1980s.

Labour's health spokeswoman in Edinburgh, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said today: "The problem is if they are not returned it's not really working as an exchange and they end up in our streets and parks, and if someone comes into contact with them they don't know what they could catch.

"It is a double-edged sword because it is important that clean needles are being used, but there has to be something in place to say to them, 'If you don't give back all the needles, we will only give you half as many next time'.

"It's important to protect both the drug user and the general public, who shouldn't have to come across used needles."

In total, 496,598 syringes were dished out under the programme in the city, but only 215,979 – or 43 per cent – were returned.

In Midlothian, 25,213 were handed out, of which only 36 per cent were given back, and East Lothian's hand-back rate was 42 per cent, with a total of 57,580 given out.

Statistics in West Lothian were far better, with almost 80 per cent of the 66,000 needles returned to the programme.

Jim Shanley, the manager of the harm reduction team for NHS Lothian, said return rates could vary wildly from area to area but statistics were improving.

The previous year's return rate for the whole of the Lothians was around 43 per cent, compared to 2007's total of just less than 50 per cent, although that number is boosted by West Lothian's total.

"Our needle exchange initiatives are provided by Spittal Street Clinic, community pharmacies and the Needle Exchange Outreach Network (Neon).

"Neon has been extremely successful, particularly in Musselburgh where it has a 100 per cent return rate. We actively encourage all patients to return needles in the boxes which we provide."