Disposing of needles...

[Opiyum]

Points Needles Hypodermic Dispose Throw Away Proper Getting Rid Safe Safest ...Just typed that for search engine purposes. If it doesn't work that way than piss on me face.

Anyway this is a basic topic for most if not all and I guss could almost be classified as common sense. But I ask you that does know....How many times have you thought at any time "IT"S COMMON SENSE YOU MORON!!!". Even more so even experts in any field still learn new things and sometimes it's from a beginner that they learn something new.

So with that said I just want to share the way that I dispose of sharps and hope that others will share the way they do so maybe I can learn a better more safer way to throw them away than I do now.

I almost always use RUGBY 1CC 28g Insulin Syringes. I simply bend the tip back on itself with the cap that go over the plunger. Normally end up poking yourself if you try to bend it back with your fingers. That's why I use the bigger cap. I try to bend at the halfway point of the needles actual length. then I put both caps on and mark the plunger cap with a black X meaning I have used that point 2 or 3 times and have beant the tip back.
I always draw a single line across the cap when I have used it once. I just do this so can quickly determine which are on their way out the door and which are not freshies and which are.
So after I save up 20 or so I normally put them into cigarette pack one pack on each end four or five hypes per then I wrap those in a bag of chips and sometimes even throw a rubber band around it.

I hate to think of someone contracting Hep or worse just from doing their job. Like I sadi most of you know already and also feel the same way about someone getting infected because you chose to be lazy one day.

So this is more for those just starting and a way of sharing different ways of disposing points.


On a completely different subject I just listened to Dear Prudence for the millionth time (greatest bassline ever) and I notices a harmony that I never heard before. God love the beatles.

[youwonhundred]

Yeah bro, you're dead on there. I know I'd feel like shit if that happened so some poor slob just for emptyin my garbage.

Also, have you ever heard the Jaco Pastorius jazz instrumental version of Dear Prudence? Unless you're one of those people who just hate jazz, its prolly not for you, but I think its fuckin awesome.

[robojunkie]

Couldn't a person just get one of those small red "biohazard" boxes with the tip cutter at the pharmacy? I agree that it would suck knowing some poor fucker like the sanitation crew/homeless guy lookin for cans getting anything (the hiv or hep c) would not be cool. Not sure of the disposal procedure for those boxes but one could always fill it with pool bleach and let it soak for days (or just collect 'em in a pot and boil 'em for an hour or two). With needles legal pretty much everywhere except NJ (last I heard) I'm sure the pharm one gets the rigs at would have these/know where to dispose of em as medical waste.

[applesauce]

A lot of needle exchange programs give out sharps containers that are basically just tupperware type boxes. They give you (well, in my old state where I was doing a lot of meth) they gave us one with every box of 100 points. They picked up the filled box before they gave us a new one, so my paranoid mind always ASSumed they analyzed the contents of the syringe barrels to get a read on what drugs we were doing and on the quality of street drugs, and possibly also DNA.

I was doing meth, so that kind of paranoia can be expected, but they COULD be doing DNA...

[oxymoron]

I always just put em in a beer or soda can and stomp it, I think that's a good way to get rid of em.

[roxi*stardust]

Couldn't a person just get one of those small red "biohazard" boxes with the tip cutter at the pharmacy? I agree that it would suck knowing some poor fucker like the sanitation crew/homeless guy lookin for cans getting anything (the hiv or hep c) would not be cool. Not sure of the disposal procedure for those boxes but one could always fill it with pool bleach and let it soak for days (or just collect 'em in a pot and boil 'em for an hour or two). With needles legal pretty much everywhere except NJ (last I heard) I'm sure the pharm one gets the rigs at would have these/know where to dispose of em as medical waste.

You should be able to get those containers (called Sharps Containers) from your Pharmacy or any medical supply store.
http://www.sharpssupply.com/mcart/
or order them online.
After they are full they have a lid that once it is put on it can not be removed, I guess you could say it locks. People with insulin dependent diabetes generally use these for their syringes.
Hope that link helps!
roxi

[Opiyum]

Also, have you ever heard the Jaco Pastorius jazz instrumental version of Dear Prudence? Unless you're one of those people who just hate jazz, its prolly not for you, but I think its fuckin awesome. __________________

No quite the opposite I love jazz. I just wish it wasn't so hard to play. I'm a drummer and can grasp the freestyle aspect of it but it's a combination of that and form. The form is the part I have a hard time with. Never played in a jazz band though and I assume that would make it less difficult seeing that in the places I lose the form the bass line would be there to keep me in.
I'll look for that though. Thanks also to everyone else for the info pertaining to the threads topic.

[Opiyum]

Bi11i or any other mods I was wondering if you think it would worthwhile to make this thread sticky? Maybe delete the one or two posts that I think weren't related to the topic or not whatever but my post about jazz music and Dear Prudence really doesn't need to be here.
I just think that if it were sticky it would be good for two reasons.
One...those who haven't seen it yet might have even more idea's on the matter (not discrediting those methods already mentioned. they are great but there is always more) case in point someone mentioned that you can obtain medical grade sharps containers from pharmacies or on the internet but here where I live in PA needles can only be obtained with a prescription and on top of that you cant order them off the net because it would be illegal for a company to send it to a state in which they aren't legal to begin with. I personally haven't tried ordering needles off the net but I have tried to order a few different things from various companies that are illegal here in PA and it they couldnt send it because of that.
Maybe Im not finding the right places on the net but I thinkI've made my point being that laws vary state to state.
Plus if it were sticky than the chance that newcomers to the site would see it would rise. As I already said this is something the majority of us already are carefull about.
I dont peticularly know how sticky works but if "sticky" would accomplish what I am having a very hard time describing than I think we should do it.

I feel like I could have said all that much more clearly and in about only one sentence but my brain is fried today and me thinking no good so yup yup daisies.

Anyhow it's not a big deal to me if you guys decide to or not but if turning it into a sticky thread seems to be worthwhile and not a pain in the ass to you guys that work so hard already than I thank you in advance for at least hearing me out.

[repeek]

I break off the point by bending it back and forth (about two seconds) and drop the point down the barrel. After accumulating about 10 I put them in the bag they came in and wrap it several times with duct tape and toss in the garbage can on pick up day.

[youwonhundred]

Nevermind. I was gonna say something here, cause, I really dig music. I'll go find someplace else for it. I don't want to piss anyone off, but to be perfectly honest I didnt read the whole thread.. just responded.

Carry on.

[roxi*stardust]

Bi11i or any other mods I was wondering if you think it would worthwhile to make this thread sticky? Maybe delete the one or two posts that I think weren't related to the topic or not whatever but my post about jazz music and Dear Prudence really doesn't need to be here.
I just think that if it were sticky it would be good for two reasons.
One...those who haven't seen it yet might have even more idea's on the matter (not discrediting those methods already mentioned. they are great but there is always more) case in point someone mentioned that you can obtain medical grade sharps containers from pharmacies or on the internet but here where I live in PA needles can only be obtained with a prescription and on top of that you cant order them off the net because it would be illegal for a company to send it to a state in which they aren't legal to begin with. I personally haven't tried ordering needles off the net but I have tried to order a few different things from various companies that are illegal here in PA and it they couldnt send it because of that.
Maybe Im not finding the right places on the net but I thinkI've made my point being that laws vary state to state.
Plus if it were sticky than the chance that newcomers to the site would see it would rise. As I already said this is something the majority of us already are carefull about.
I dont peticularly know how sticky works but if "sticky" would accomplish what I am having a very hard time describing than I think we should do it.

I feel like I could have said all that much more clearly and in about only one sentence but my brain is fried today and me thinking no good so yup yup daisies.

Anyhow it's not a big deal to me if you guys decide to or not but if turning it into a sticky thread seems to be worthwhile and not a pain in the ass to you guys that work so hard already than I thank you in advance for at least hearing me out.
Great idea about making this thread a sticky! I'm from PA too Opiyum, I know that you need an RX for needles here in PA but containers should not require an RX. You should be able to pick them up at any medical supply store. I'm going to check into it to be sure though. I'll let you know what I find out.
-roxi*

[roxi*stardust]

Ok what I was able to find out is that Sharps containers do not rquire an RX, not even here in PA. Just for the heck of it I checked on eBay to see if there were any listings, guess what?
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&satitle=sharps+containers

[applesauce]

I wonder if a Wiki would be a good idea for cataloging state and local Harm Reduction laws, because they vary so much.

Since a Wiki is built by the community, everybody could contribute, and it theoretically wouldn't involve a whole lot of management (because management could be delegated to a group of moderators, just like the site itself).

Just a thought.

[Chipper]

I'm a bit fastidious when it comes to sharps. I almost always clean them and return them to the needle exchange like a good little junkie, complete with wrappers!

[HistoryofMadness]

i at least break the needles off completely and put them in small glass bottles if at home. Then to dispose I'll take them completely apart and triple wrap them in a sack.

Milk jugs are also good because they aren't completely see-through.

If you're out and shooting, like a friend of mine says, 'a good junky always flushes his own rig'... break the point, drop in the toil-ey and flush... try to use the super flushers but if in doubt you can wrap in toilet paper and flush (this helps with a weaker flusher).

But at least break the tip off and flush it.

Seriously if you're out, get rid of that shit, but please don't throw it out the window. I've seen a couple of 'acquaintances' do that and it really pisses me off.

[nick]

If you go to works exchange here,you get a sharps bin with your works.If I didn't have a sharps bin I used to put the works in coke or beer cans after breaking the spike off.
Never dump works,people worked hard to get works exchange going and dumping works screws that up.

[candy]

Get a sharps container and they have them at Needle exchange and you can buy them at any drug store or medical supply.

Or just get a coffee can(tin with the plastic top) tape the top on the can on with a strong tape and make a slit in the top of the plastic top wide enough for a capped syringe to get through. You can bend the needle back and put the cap back on and then dispose as someone mentioned.

Then once the can is filled you can take it to a needle exchange and dispose of it there or just throw it in with your regular trash. You can also can your city and ask them of how to dispose of needles. If they ask say your diabetic. They certainly aren't going to know who you are and they should be able to assist you in getting rid of old rigs.

[candy]

Get a sharps container and they have them at Needle exchange and you can buy them at any drug store or medical supply.

Or just get a coffee can(tin with the plastic top) tape the top on the can on with a strong tape and make a slit in the top of the plastic top wide enough for a capped syringe to get through. You can bend the needle back and put the cap back on and then dispose as someone mentioned.

Then once the can is filled you can take it to a needle exchange and dispose of it there or just throw it in with your regular trash. You can also can your city and ask them of how to dispose of needles. If they ask say your diabetic. They certainly aren't going to know who you are and they should be able to assist you in getting rid of old rigs.



The above was told by me by the County of Los Angeles on how to dispose needles in a coffee can. As long as they are not thrown loose and left uncapped. I don't like seeing that either.