'Very sad' discovery near playing children in Aussie park
'These are found in all parks — bloody disgusting,' one local complained.
An Aussie woman who found used syringes lying on the ground just "metres" from a popular children's playground said the sight has left her extremely "angry" and "saddened".
The Queensland resident said she found the "disgusting" syringes at a Noosa park on the Sunshine Coast — over the weekend, merely five metres from equipment at the kids' playground.
Wishing to remain anonymous, the Noosa local slammed the "unsafe" littering, which, if trodden on by a person, child or animal, could've resulted in a serious injury or infection.
"It was very sad to see, and we were shocked. They were (found) behind the bus stop — right in front of a park my kids and many more play in. About five-meters from play equipment," the distressed woman told Yahoo News Australia. "This is very sad to see in our community and it makes me angry".
'Sad' sight could result in serious infection or injury
The woman went on to explain that she quickly picked up the syringes and disposed of them, using a piece of paper to avoid coming into physical contact with the needles. The park does not have any public bathrooms nor any sharps disposal bins, she said.
Online, other Noosa residents posted about their own experiences finding discarded syringes in the area.
"These are found in all parks around Noosa — bloody disgusting," a woman wrote. "Also found in the sand at beaches as well," said another.
Noosa locals claim to have found syringes in other common areas
A third local listed all the areas she had recently come across used syringes in public.
"Lions Park, Pirate Park, Tewantin, the park that runs off down by the Tewantin medical centre, Noosa Outlook Park, Noosa Heads Park," she wrote. "Noosa Beach — it was that bad they had to actually sieve the sand there, the council should probably do it again.
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"Even the dog beach isn't safe or the sand along the river etc., they just leave them everywhere. The council should put cameras up everywhere so they can see what's happening, then send a security or police there to deal with it."
According to 2022 data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), 54 per cent of Aussies who inject illicit substances reported that methamphetamine was their drug of choice. Nationally, just 1.5 per cent of the population aged 14 and over reported injecting a drug in their lifetime — equal to about 375,000 people.
The Queensland Needle and Syringe Program (QNSP) is currently in operation to "reduce the incidence of blood-borne viruses and injection-related injuries and disease".
It aims to provide sterile injecting equipment, facilitate the safe disposal of used injecting equipment and improve access and referrals to drug treatment programs. "This is achieved through a network of 150 public needle and syringe programs and over 700 community pharmacies," the Queensland government said online.
Council weighs in
Noosa Council's Acting Infrastructure Services Director Shaun Walsh said there are 57 sharps containers across the region.
"Even with sharps containers in these amenities Council’s cleaners still unfortunately find discarded syringes in public amenities, often within a few feet of a sharps container," Mr Walsh told Yahoo News Australia. "These syringes are disposed of by the cleaners in the sharps containers.
"The Queensland Health Needle and Syringe Program (QNSP) provides a 24-hour hotline (1800 633 353) for people to report any discarded sharps they find in public places. The QNSP staff will then arrange for the safe removal of the sharps as soon as possible."
The QNSP advised that there are several locations in Noosa to access free sharps containers and dispose of them safely. These include: Noosa Heads Pharmacy, Noosaville Amcal Pharmacy, Priceline Pharmacy Noosa Civic and Tewantin Pharmacy."
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