A sharps container for disposing of used needles is being unveiled in Portland in September. Augusta city councilors last week discussed strengthening the city’s needle exchange and disposal services as discarded needles become a problem on Augusta’s streets. Press Herald file photo

AUGUSTA — City officials are considering looking for a partner to create a system to pay people to turn in used hypodermic needles that litter city streets.

Ward 2 Alderman Kevin Judkins suggested the city work with others, possibly a local organization that already runs a needle exchange program, to create a program that would pay people 5 cents each for any used needles they bring in . He said it would be a way to try to rid the city of improperly discarded syringes left by drug users in public places.

“I used to own a redemption center and the bottle law really worked, it took a lot of trash off our streets,” Judkins said at Thursday night’s council meeting. “I know that using needles on every corner in Augusta is a problem. So I started thinking, if it worked well for this, how could we model it for this? If we removed 100,000 needles from our streets, it would only cost us $7,000. If we took 200,000 needles off our streets, that would only be $14,000.

“It would be for public safety and to take care of these things in a good way. And at the same time, when I bring them in, I get clean needles. They get damage reduction.”

He said the program could be funded with some from the city opioid settlement funds.

City councilors, after a wide-ranging, lively discussion sparked by the proposal, agreed that City Manager Jared Mills should look into the issue and get back to councilors with information about the city putting out more boxes to dispose of syringes, waste or objects sharps, where drug users could put their used needles.

Mills will also look at existing organizations the city could partner with to collect used needles and create an incentive program, like the one proposed by Judkins, to pay people for turning in used needles that might otherwise be disposed of inappropriately.

Officials noted there are already needle exchange programs operating in Augusta, including one Green Street affiliated with MaineGeneral Health, so that the city can collaborate with such a program.

Ward 3 Councilman Mike Michaud asked if the city or others are still working to try to prevent the availability of illegal drugs used in those that dot the city, in addition to efforts to help people recover from drug addiction.

Mills, the city’s former police chief, countered that drug enforcement continues to occur alongside more recent efforts to help addicts get treatment, but cautioned that it’s the only thing that hasn’t worked in the past.

“It was, ‘Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement, let’s arrest ourselves to get rid of it,’ and that didn’t work in the 25 years I was in my other career,” Mills said. “So it became about opening eyes to treatment and recovery and harm reduction and things like that. So this is just one component of the other things that are going on. Whether we solve this problem, I don’t know.”

Several councilors were concerned that offering a financial incentive to collect and turn in used needles could attract people other than drug users, including children, to collect needles for the money they could make and expose them to the risk of infection.

“I don’t think I would be in favor of bringing in a needle and you get 5 cents,” said Ward 4 Alderman Eric Lind. “Because at that point, people who need some money might be looking for needles, or kids would could do it and not handle them properly and they are dangerous.”

General Counsel Courtney Gary-Allen, Organizing Director of The Maine Recovery Advocacy Project and a member of Maine Recovery Boardsaid all needle exchange programs in Maine are limited to serving only people 18 or older. So if the city were to partner with one of those programs to pay people to return the needles, that would prevent kids from participating. She added that participation in the cash-for-needle program could be limited to people who participate in needle exchange programs.

Councilor At-Large Stephanie Sienkiewicz said the city could inadvertently cause other problems while trying to fix the problem. But, she said, doing nothing allows the existing risk to continue.

“We’ve all heard of needles thrown around town, we know there were a few nice ones significant funds spent on biohazard cleanupso I think conversations about that are really needed,” she said. “There are potential downsides to something like this, I don’t want to give them away. At the same time, I’m willing to see how this plays out and address these issues as they arise.

“The needles are a risk to the community as they are, people can interact with them as they are now in the field. This is a risk that exists. I’m not sure that incentivizing people to pick them up increases the risk. The community wants this taken care of. I would be happy to move forward with something.”

Copy the story link