Kids at risk of dirty needles

It is wholly unacceptable that in 2024 drugs and drug paraphernalia including dirty discarded needles, potentially life threatening, are being found in public parks where children play.

I refer to the article under the headline "Call for park clean up after needles found" with reference to Pilrig Park in the Evening News on April 13.

Pilrig Park is within the Forth ward of the Labour/ Tory coalition running Edinburgh Council where Labour leader Cammy Day is one of the four councillors.

I am further aware of two recent similar reports to the council involving discarded needles in the small children's play area/ climbing frame in the park to the north of West Pilton Marches, again in Mr Day's Forth ward.

I am submitting today a freedom of information request to the City of Edinburgh Council and Police Scotland to hopefully ascertain how widespread across our city this problem is.

Interestingly it is Conservative Party MSP Miles Briggs who is rightly raising the alarm. Mr Briggs, though, in 2019 is on record as stating that safer drug consumption rooms are effective in preventing overdoses.

I would suggest similarly they might be effective in avoiding crises such as dangerous and unsightly drugs paraphernalia where kids play and risk injury.

Perhaps Miles Briggs might reflect, though, that it was his Conservative party that was against drug consumption rooms in Edinburgh when discussed at a recent meeting of councillors.

With all due respect, Edinburgh Council and the SNP Government need, as they say in the RAF to young recruits known as powder monkeys, to get their finger out and make such facilities available here, pronto.

It is not right in 2024 that drugs and drug paraphernalia including dirty discarded needles are found in parks where children play

Douglas McBean, Edinburgh