The City of Saskatoon shouldn't pay to pick up discarded needles that originate from the Saskatoon Health Region's needle exchange program, according to Coun. Myles Heidt.
The needle exchange program is necessary and does excellent work, Heidt said, but he wonders if the health region should be doing more to help with cleanup.
"I don't think it's fair. Not handing needles out is not an option, so what do we do? The communities shouldn't be footing the bill (for needle pickups)," Heidt said.
Waaaah! Maybe they should complain about having to shovel snow too. I would think that the cost of picking up needles would be minor compared to the risk of a child getting poked by a dirty needle. As it turns out, Heidt is complaining about nothing.
Assistant fire chief Bob Fawcett said the only cost to the city is the fuel used by fire trucks picking up the needles.
While it may seem excessive to send a large fire truck to pick up one tiny needle, Fawcett said the dangers of dirty needles outweigh concerns of wasteful spending.
"We don't find needle pick-up tedious. This is in the interest of community safety of children. We would rather go out and pick them up rather then children poking themselves," he said.
Maybe they could find a smaller vehicle that is used specifically for needle pick-up if they are so worried about fuel. Otherwise it seems like a pretty good idea having firefighters pick up needles, after all, what do firefighters do when they aren't fighting fires anyway?
If city councillors are wringing their hands about the cost of picking up needles, imagine the fuss if anybody suggested a safe injection site in Saskatoon.
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