It’s a rare occurrence for Cochrane park users to stumble across strewn syringes and hypodermic needles in a public area.
Needless to say, it created concern for soccer player Lucy Lovelock when she came across a scattered pile of such paraphernalia in the soccer field parking lot in community of GlenEagles the evening of Aug. 2.
“I have no issues with what people do in their private lives, but it concerns me to find this in a public area used by kids all the time,” said the mother of two, who contacted Cochrane Fire Services to dispose of the mess.
“It’s sad, because I hadn’t yet seen that in Cochrane.”
According to Cochrane RCMP Sgt. White and the Cochrane Community Health Centre (CCHC), reports of findings of needles and syringes are “very rare” in Cochrane.
People who come across drug paraphernalia and wish to dispose of it themselves, are advised by RCMP to exercise caution, use gloves and dispose of the waste at a safe needle disposal unit – located inside any pharmacy or the RCMP detachment; the CCHC does not have a safe disposal unit for public use and will direct people to a pharmacy.
According to Laurie Drukier, spokesperson for the Town of Cochrane, the town has not yet been approached about providing a needle disposal site.
