Neighbors helping neighbors — online
If it is true that in our modern times, neighbors no longer talk to each other in person, at least there is the internet. Whether threads about friends who have died on Facebook, discussions about snakes and plumbers on Neighbors Next Door, or, in a somewhat alarming recent post on the Santa Fe Bulletin Facebook page, a discussion about what to do with abandoned needles — these connections in cyberspace can forge friendships and, yes, even help create community.
The recent exchange on needles — specifically what to do if you spot them while you’re out and about — is worth sharing. The impetus was a post from an Albuquerque television station about the growing problem of discarded needles in public places. It wasn’t local, but featured problems in New Hampshire and other East Coast states. Still, that story was reposted on the Santa Fe Bulletin page, at which point the comments began piling up.
The first comment is worth a read: “So far, Santa Feans have reported to me seeing hypodermic needles in these places: Railyard Park, Guadalupe Street, all along the Arroyo Chamiso behind Sam’s Club, Kachina Ridge Subdivision, Marc Brandt Park, Rufina Street/Richards Avenue, 800 block of Agua Fria, Agua Fria Village, and the parking lots of businesses along Cerrillos Road, south of St. Michael’s.”
And so it went, with people reporting needles in parks, near businesses, by churches, at rest areas and along streets and sidewalks. Dr. Wendy Johnson pointed out that “one answer is needle exchange. You have to give your old needles to get new ones, so less incentive to dump them. Here are sites in New Mexico, although Healthcare for the Homeless has moved now and is at 1532 Cerrillos [Road]. https://www.env.nm.gov/ swb/documents/NMDOH-IDB-HarmReduction-List-SyringeProviderSites.pdf.”
Another poster said, “The city needs to install needle drop boxes at parks and public places. The heroin problem we are facing is a nationwide epidemic, other cities have done so but of course New Mexico is not keeping up.”
There’s this alarming comment from a woman who said she saw a needle “on the city bus, and in my neighborhood, Via Caballero, which is a nice neighborhood, too. By the way, it was my 8-year-old daughter who found it on the bus, notified the driver (I was with her), and he very professionally took care of it by putting it in a used plastic water bottle.”
So what else do you do out in the real world, away from social media, should you see a needle in a public place?
The original news story — based on input from state health officials in New Hampshire — advises people not to pick up the needles, but rather, to call someone to pick them up. Needles are not an emergency, so do not call 911. People who do feel they must pick up the needles can minimize hand contact by using gloves, disposable tongs, a shovel or dust pan. Put needles in a puncture-proof container. Should you be poked by a needle, go to a doctor or urgent care for advice, tests and medical care — and don’t suck the wound. People with children should show them what a syringe or needle looks like so that kids out on their own know not to touch.
Bigger than the issue of what to do about discarded needles, of course, is the reason why the needles are there in the first place. When people use illegal drugs, they obviously are not always careful about disposal. To eliminate needles, stopping drug use is the best line of defense. Until that happens, watch where you are stepping. And talk to your neighbors — in person or online — and be careful out there.