Parentspushingforactiononsocialmedia
Lyra Angus started petition to promote needle exchange
Much of the drive behind recent pushes by the community to force the City to do more about the needle debris issue has come from parents with young children who were fed up with their families being exposed to needles in parks and public spaces.
Many of these parents have been connecting on social media to share concerns and updates regarding the issue.
Those connections have resulted in instances of social action, as well.
In May, local resident Lyra Angus started a petition after finding needle debris near Kinsman Park after taking her five-year-old son to play.
“There was a whole pile of needles, condoms, drug baggies, and spoons,” she told The Herald at the time.
Angus shared photos on social media, which prompted a discussion on the viability of the ARCHES clean needle program and its effectiveness, as well as the impact of the City’s supervised consumption site.
The discussion gained the attention of Mayor Chris Spearman and made its way to the May 14 regular meeting of City Council.
A need to focus discussion on the issue led to Angus’ decision to start a petition.
“I realized everything was all over the place on Facebook,” she said. “I wanted to just make one specific spot where everyone could go, write their name (and their issues), so I could have one big document to send to ARCHES, or the city, wherever it needs to go.”
With the group still collecting signatures, it is hoped they can convince the City to promote a needle exchange program.
‘We’re probably not going to stop all the needles entirely,” she said. “But having piles of them everywhere seems a big ridiculous to me.”
As frustration over the issue of needle debris grew, Lethbridge seemed to be holding its collective breath waiting for a serious needle incident took place.
At the end of May, the first confirmed incident involving a child being pricked by a discarded syringe took place when a 12-year-old boy was pricked on his way home from school. The boy was walking home from school in the city’s northside when he bent down to pick up some rocks in the parking lot of the Park Meadows Baptist Church, grabbing a discarded needle in the process.
Julio Ceron, the boy’s father, told The Herald at the time the syringe had the cap on but the needle was poking through the cap. The boy came straight home and told his parents.
“We were really concerned,” Julio said. “You don’t expect syringes to be around this kind of area where there’s a preschool.”
Julio said they called Health Link Alberta and were eventually directed to the Chinook Regional Hospital for treatment and blood work.
Amie Ceron, the boy’s mother, said when she first heard what happened, she did not want to believe it.
When she found a wound on her son’s hand, however, she realized what they were dealing with.
Julio said efforts to curb the number of needles in the community were not working.
“It’s like landmines all over town. You have to watch where you step.”
In June, a rally was held to protest the needle debris in the city.
The “Not Another Needle Rally,” saw as many as 30 people at one point, and was hosted by the Facebook page “Lethbridge Needle Support Group,” organized by Angus and others.
Officially, there were three main points organizers were hoping to get out:
First, that ARCHES switch to retractable syringes for their clean needle program.
Second, that ARCHES enforce a needle exchange program, which would see needles handed out only to those who have brought back their previous needles.
Third, Lethbridge needs to force the issue of a larger treatment and rehabilitation centre for the area.
Organizers also collected more than 100 signatures for their petition.
“If you cannot stop the needles, make them safe for our kids,” said event spokesperson Sarah Villebrun at the time.
Villebrun said the group has no problem with ARCHES and are overall supportive of their efforts at the supervised consumption site.
“The fact they are getting money to expand the booths and ease up resources on EMS is the most amazing thing,” she said. “The needle distribution is the only problem we have.”
“This can not be the new normal for our children or grandchildren.”
Recently, a discarded syringe discovered in at Stan Siwik Pool forced the closure of the facility for about an hour.
This could be the first time a discarded syringe has been found in any of the city pools since at least 2005.
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