New needle recovery team finds 50-80 used syringes per day around Calgary

A new program launched in Calgary this week is helping clean up a side-effect of the city's opioid crisis.

Harm reduction facility Alpha House's needle recovery team is encouraging Calgarians to call if they see a used syringe, and they'll respond and safely dispose of it.

"Each day we go out and look for needles. Mostly downtown but also throughout the city of Calgary. We hit hot spots that we know our clients are using," said needle response worker Sasha Behl.

The team also hands out needle disposal bins, naloxone kits that can prevent overdoses and clean needles if they encounter users.

A pilot project this summer demonstrated the need for a safe needle recovery service Behl said members of the team find about 50 to 80 used needles per day, depending on the weather.

Hot spots include areas near the city's supervised consumption site, along the train tracks, shelters and alleys with covered parking.

"Our goal is to keep track of areas that are used quite often, where the team will go when they're not responding to calls to find needles just like we did today. No one called us today but we were able to find them before someone did," said Alpha House outreach manager Adam Melnyk.

"We're reaching out to businesses and citizens also to not only pick up needles, but also educate them on how to pick up needles safely if they feel comfortable doing so."

Melnyk said he hopes the program will help take some pressure off the fire department.

In the past eight years, calls to the fire department for needle pickups have more than quadrupled, with more than 550 calls last year.

Calgarians can call the team between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday to Friday at 403-796-5334. Outside those hours, people can call the fire department, or, if they feel comfortable, safely pick up the needle themselves.

Behl said people can wear gloves, use tongs, and put the needle in a container like a plastic water bottle or peanut butter jar and either call the team to pick it up at a later date or take it to the fire department.

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