The issue of safe disposal is not only relevant within the using community, it becomes an issue for everyone. Unsafe disposal such as needles being found at carparks, shopping centres, playgrounds and even schoolyards means that everyone is affected by unsafe disposal. Even children. Even my son.
As a using parent, I always saw it as part of my parental responsibility to be aware that although I had strict disposal rules for my own behavior, not everybody I visited or knew felt the same way. So I presented my son, at the very early age of three, with a situation that could have arisen in our everyday travels around the city.
I placed a clean capped syringe in some grass in our back garden. As the day lead on, I noticed my son heading towards this lovely shiny object. It was then that I said OOUCH! and NO! This training lasted for roughly one year, where I would let my son know that he was not to touch syringes by saying those words.
By four and a half, my son and I had migrated to Sydney, and we were living around the corner from Williams Street. We regularly came across unsafely disposed of equipment. It was then that I instigated the idea that this paraphernalia could not only hurt him by way of a jab or prick, but that it was also DIRTY. I said the work DIRTY in the same tone I used for DOG SHIT.
By six, we were back in Brisbane, and for some reason some irresponsible loser junkies thought my son’s schoolyard was an appropriate venue for a late night hit, as it provided shelter and access to running water.
By this stage he knew that a syringe with a bright orange cap on could do him no immediate danger (JAB or PRICK) other than a sharp reprimand from his Mum. He also knew not to take his eyes off the object, let no other child touch it, and send for an adult to get rid of it. This was very useful information, but led to some speculation from anxious teachers about his level of education in regard to drug paraphernalia. The excuse that grandma was a diabetic was very useful (and socially acceptable on this first of many occasions).
My child not only developed a healthy aversion to injecting equipment,
but also felt that he had to inflict this knowledge on anyone who was within
earshot of an unsafely disposed of syringe.
As the years have passed, my child has become more aware of my involvement
in this large jigsaw, and several times we have openly discussed what causes
unsafe disposal. I am at a loss as to why anyone would inject in a child’s
space, and furthermore leave their equipment in that place.
Now, as a young teenager, he feels that unsafe disposal is not just an
issue for a user being lazy or slack. He knows that there are laws that
prevent even him from picking up an unwrapped syringe (regardless of whether
it has been used) and taking that to an exchange; unless he puts it straight
into a Sharps Bin, or other hard-walled, puncture-resistant, sealable container.
He understands that users will leave needles rather than run the risk of
being busted by the law, which would add further mayhem to what may already
be a chaotic lifestyle.
We have discussed the impact that drugs have had on both his and my lifestyle,
and all I can do is to be honest and let him know what it is I am doing.
As with every other parent out there, I am also concerned that my child may experiment with drugs, so I keep accurately informed with the current information regarding drugs, be they ecstasy, speed, heroin or whatever drug is popular at the moment. I feel that this is all any parent can do when drug use is sometimes seen as experimental, fashionable or whatever hat it is given to fit the situation.
What I have instilled in my son is an understanding of what can harm him by way of unsafe disposal, and I know that over the years he has influenced many others not to pick up or play with an unsafely disposed of syringe.
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