The packages, which contained a Fitpack – a container used to dispose of used needles – as well as pre-injection swabs, were found this week by an angry parent who said the nearby park was full with children.
In recent weeks, drug paraphernalia has been found abandoned on a baby-changing unit in the same toilet block at Parade Gardens, while 14 used syringes, as well as tablets, were discovered scattered over
the floor of the Millennium Town Park toilets.
The father who found the most recent example of discarded drug equipment said that luckily he was not with his daughter. ‘The park had a lot of children in at the time though,’ he added.
‘There was a Fitpack that has needles for heroin. I had to pick one up and put it in the needle box in the toilet. It’s not good.’
The Alcohol and Drug Service, which issues syringes to addicts as part of its needle-exchange programme to help reduce the spread of bloodborne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, said that it is working with its clients to ‘reinforce that this disposal is unacceptable’.
Staff from the service have recently met with St Helier parish officials and both parties say that they are working closely to ‘eliminate the risk presented by needles that have not been properly disposed of’.
In a combined statement, the Alcohol and Drug Service and St Helier said there is ‘no excuse’ for discarding needles unsafely.
It added: ‘All needle exchange packs include a safe disposal container. There are several options for safe disposal available to users: a unit in the toilets on Parade Gardens, another across the road by the main entrance to Jersey General Hospital, one at the rear of the Alcohol and Drug Service in Stopford Road and others at community pharmacies.’
There are notices in most public toilets advising members of the public who to call if they find drug equipment. Advice is also displayed for drug users. Anyone who finds drugs paraphernalia in St Helier toilets should call G4S on 502689.
