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What to do if you find used needles, crack pipes or other drug paraphernalia

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  • By: HCA
Reports of discarded syringes and other drug paraphernalia started to come in last fall and again this spring.

The areas where they have been reported are: the Trillium path between Gladstone and the Ottawa River,  the Somerset St. bridge from Preston to Breezehill, Bayview LRT station,  the multi-use path and Scott St. from behind Tom Brown Arena to Carruthers.
It is important that locations of syringes, etc are reported so that they are picked up quickly and so the locations are incorporated into the City’s database for Needlehunters routes.  Needlehunters is a program that began as a pilot in Hintonburg in 1998 where they proactively search for and dispose of these items. The program is paid for by Ottawa Public Health.

What to do if you find used needles, crack pipes or other drug paraphernalia.

Call 311 to ask to have the item picked up. The City makes an effort to respond to all needle retrieval requests within one hour.

If you choose to pick up used needles or other drug paraphernalia yourself please do so carefully. Place the items in a puncture proof container and drop in a Needle Drop Box. They can be found on the Somerset St. Bridge at the ramp to the Trillium Pathway, at the back of 22 O’Meara (Causeway) or at any hospital. DO NOT put in the garbage or down the toilet. It is against the law to dispose of needles, crack pipes or other sharp objects in the garbage or recycling.

Please also report these finds to needlereporting@ottawa.ca with the date, time, location (closest address), quantity and your name & contact info. This info is vital to provide the NeedleHunters Program with up to date info on where to pro-actively look for discarded syringes & crack pipes.

 

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