HN GRAPHIC: Shows the distance in feet from the needle distribution program’s property at 428 South Street in Hyannis to nearby locations, especially schools and places where young children frequent… Note that schools and numerous children are within 1000 feet of the needle distribution program. (The measurements were taken from a “Mass GIS” online mapping tool)

The needle distribution program located at 428 South Street in Hyannis may need to move to a safer location.

According to experts, the Hepatitis C virus can survive in discarded syringes for up to 63 days after being used by an infected drug user. Click here to learn more about what the experts say, in an article by Liz Highleyman.

According statistics disclosed at a recent Barnstable Board of Health meeting, 70% of the needle distribution program’s clients are Hepatitis C positive. The needle distribution program says they distributed about 112,000 hypodermic needles this year. Which means about 78,000 of the needle distribution program’s needles have been possibly infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), “Hepatitis C is a liver infection caused by the Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus. Today, most people become infected with the Hepatitis C virus by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs. For some people, hepatitis C is a short-term illness but for 70%–85% of people who become infected with Hepatitis C, it becomes a long-term, chronic infection. Chronic Hepatitis C is a serious disease [that] can result in long-term health problems, even death. The majority of infected persons might not be aware of their infection because they are not clinically ill. There is no vaccine for Hepatitis C. The best way to prevent Hepatitis C is by avoiding behaviors that can spread the disease, especially injecting drugs.”

The needle distribution program at 428 South Street sends their clients out onto the local streets and sidewalks with free hypodermic needles, cotton balls, alcohol wipes, tourniquets, “sex kits,” and tins for cooking heroin  in the hope they do not transmit disease among themselves. But when not safely discarded properly, their needles may be placing others at risk of contracting the very diseases they want to prevent.

HN has spent several days observing foot traffic and vehicle traffic entering and leaving the location of the 428 South Street needle distribution program, which is also a support program for those infected with the Aids virus. Short of invasively following the needle distribution program’s clients to where they shoot up, it’s nearly impossible to tell who is disposing of their hypodermic needles safely.

Yet HN has observed and listened to reports of individuals finding improperly discarded needles within up to a 2000 foot radius of the needle distribution program. One source told HN that during certain periods of time, he has found about 4 to 5 improperly discarded needles each day. A nearby neighbor within 500 feet of the needle distribution program says he has found needles on his property, but was unable to give an exact number. Another neighbor within 100 feet of the needle distribution program says he has found needles on his property. HN has found improperly discarded needles within 500 feet of needle distribution program, on two occasions police were called to safely retrieve the hazardous medical waste.

HN spoke with a couple of Barnstable Police officials within the past week and learned they are now documenting calls for improperly discarded needles, noting the location, date, and time in their in-house computer system. About 3 days ago, for example, a Barnstable Police Officer was dispatched to deal with an improperly discarded hypodermic needle next to Wings Beachwear, 528 Main Street, in Hyannis, approximately 600 feet from the needle distribution program on South Street.  The call will receive a special disposition code which will enable the tracking of improperly discarded hypodermic needles.  The public is urged to notify police whenever they come across improperly discarded hazardous medical waste/needles.

Other neighbors of the needle distribution program are worried about a sudden influx of improperly discarded hazardous needles on their sidewalks, streets, and properties. HN has lived near to 428 South Street since the late 1960s, and has never ever found an improperly discarded hypodermic needle in the neighborhood surrounding Chase Street until just recently.

Are these anecdotal occurrences of improperly discarded needles the direct result of the nearby needle distribution program? Are, in fact, all of the needle distribution program’s clients safely disposing of their used needles? Is there a chance, great or small, that some of the clients, who are mainly active heroin addicts, irresponsibly discarding their needles within the immediate area? Is there a chance that out of the annual 78,000 potentially Hepatitis C infected needles, that some are being left on our nearby streets and sidewalks, and private properties, near to schools and young children?

What are the chances of a young child, or anyone, coming into contact with an infected needle? What are the chances of a young child out playing or walking accidentally becoming “pricked” with an infected needle?

HN does not have these statistics, but will be documenting activity in the area of the needle exchange in order to gain insights into the probability of a child’s inadvertent exposure to the Hepatitis C virus by way of an improperly discarded hypodermic needle.

In other areas it is strictly illegal to distribute needles within 1000 feet of public or private schools. In Washington D.C. for example, the law reads, “it shall be unlawful for any person to distribute any needle or syringe for the hypodermic injection of any illegal drug in any area of the District of Columbia which is within 1,000 feet of a public or private elementary or secondary school (including a public charter school).”

The Town of Barnstable Department of Health tried to shut the needle distribution program down because there are serious concerns about the “program’s” overall safety. Also, many strongly feel the “needle exchange” needlessly endangers the children and families in the South Street area. HN has spoken with some of the neighbors who have no problem with the program’s intentions, but feel the location for the needle exchange part of the program is located too close to schools, children, and families.

HN also spoke with clients and friends of the program who state the people there have good intentions and they are simply trying to help addicts. One woman feels comfortable around the needle distribution staff, feeling it is a safe haven for those suffering from addiction, but she does also recognize the concerns of its neighbors and potential impacts on the children in the area.

HN NOTES: HN would love to see the Aids Support group and addiction education efforts continue at the current location. However, the needle distribution portion of the program needs to move. It’s just too close to vulnerable children and there is no convincing evidence the program can keep nearby children safe from exposure to their program’s improperly discarded needles. HN and several of its readers have volunteered their time to help this needle distribution program move to a more suitable location when that time hopefully comes. HN also recognizes the program does Narcan training and strongly supports such efforts, as it saves lives and often buys time for addicts to find their way into longer lasting recovery.

HN will continue to cover this issue in the weeks to come. It’s a complicated issue which effects us all. Nobody wants to see anyone suffer from devastating disease, including the numerous young children in the immediate area – especially the young children in the area!

Is there, or can there be, common ground? Unfortunately for the needle distributors, and for those concerned about local children, the answer may be “no.”

The following is a list of the distances in feet from the needle distribution program to some of the schools and other locations where numerous young children frequent:

1.  Saint Francis Xavier Prep. School  –  853 feet
2.  Saint Pope John Paul II High School  –  941 feet
3.  The nearest school ball field  –  765 feet
4.  Historic Saint Francis Xavier Church  (Where President John F. Kennedy [JFK] and his family also attended)  –  699 feet
5.  Angel House  (A residential program for babies, young children, and mothers)  –  1044 feet
6.  Sturgis Public Charter School  –  1498 feet
7.  Barnstable Town Hall & Village Green  (a location where local school children frequent for recreation, sports, and extracurricular activities… also an area riddled with active heroin addicts and improperly discarded needles… a place where the needle distribution program’s “harm reduction” person meets with active addicts and conducts outreach)  –  1887 feet
8. The Hyannis Armory (An important stop along the Kennedy Legacy Trail, where JFK gave his famous presidential nomination acceptance speech in November of 1960.)  –  1858 feet
9. Cape Cod Community College  (Hyannis Campus)  –  602 feet
10. The Safe Harbor Shelter (for women and children who find themselves homeless due to domestic violence)  –  1119 feet
11. The Hyannis Youth and Recreation Center  –  1671 feet
12. Barnstable Community Horace Mann Charter School  –  2166 feet
13. Cape Cod Child Development  (Pearl Street preschool program)  –  1365 feet
14. Cape Cod Child Development  (preschool program located at Bassett and Stevens Street)  –  1671 feet
15. A busy pediatric dentistry office located at 414 South Street  (numerous young children can be seen coming and going at all times during business hours)  –  70 feet
16. A busy orthodontist office which provides services to children, located at 429 South Street   –  40 feet
17. The Department of Children and Families [DCF]   (An agency which, ironically, routinely removes children from environments where there are needles and heroin usage)  –  775 feet

• These are just some of the local areas where young vulnerable children can be found near to the needle distribution program.  There are, of course, the neighborhood children as well who now play in an area which is littered with hypodermic needles.  To what extent is this needle distribution program willing to expose itself to the ramifications of, God forbid, having a local child become infected with Hepatitis C after coming into contact with a needle their program gave out to an active addict after inviting them into areas where the majority of whom would not have come to shoot up illicit drugs to begin with? 

12/9/2015

Robert Bastille,


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P.S. – Today’s HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Nina Simone… [Press play]

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