Mat-Su

Proliferation of used hypodermics spurs talk of needle exchange in Mat-Su

WASILLA -- A different kind of blight is emerging from heroin use in the Valley: discarded hypodermic needles littering roadsides, parks and waterways from Butte to Houston.

Valley residents say they find syringes without trying -- at a school bus stop in Big Lake, riding horses in Houston, in the sand next to Wasilla Lake.

Houston Fire Capt. Christian Hartley found 30 needles in a stretch of road near a gravel pit just off the Parks Highway in April. Last year, most of the hypodermics turned up along the Parks Highway -- maybe users just threw them out vehicle windows, he said -- but this year most cluster along King Arthur Drive, Houston's busiest artery.

One resident brought in a Mason jar filled with 30 used hypodermics.

"It's very much a shame, very much unfortunate," Hartley said. "It's equally unfortunate that the people that are leaving the needles don't have the compassion or concern to think about the public when they're doing this."

Used needles pose a risk for injury to people and pets and can spread disease, including tetanus, hepatitis B or C and staph infections, authorities say.

The proliferation of discarded hypodermics is spurring one Wasilla-based public health nurse to push for a needle exchange program in the Mat-Su, where there currently is none.

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Exchange solution?

The Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association -- an Anchorage nonprofit known as the 4As -- runs a needle exchange in Anchorage and one in Juneau. The Interior AIDS Association runs one in Fairbanks. Clients drop off used needles for safe disposal and get clean ones and other equipment -- tourniquets, cotton, alcohol pads -- as well as general health information.

In the last fiscal year, the Anchorage and Juneau exchanges accepted more than 232,000 used needles, according to Rebecca Morrissey, the group's HIV prevention and education coordinator.They gave out more than 226,000. So far in the fiscal year ending in June, the two programs have taken in more than 290,000.

"There are people who travel in from the Mat-Su Valley to get needles from us because there's no options for them out there," Morrissey said.

That's where Michelle Rountree, a registered nurse who works at the Mat-Su Public Health Center, comes into the picture. Rountree hopes to start a needle exchange in the Valley.

An exchange could protect drug users from diseases, but it could also cut down on needle dumps like those in the Valley area, Rountree said.

"It gives the needle user some accountability to their needles so they're less likely to dump them," she said. "Most of these groups, they don't want to use dirty needles. They actually want to take care of themselves -- I know that sounds a little contradictory but they do."

Morrissey recommended supporters of a Mat-Su exchange start looking for nonprofit grant sources or private donors since federal funding for needles exchanges is prohibited.

"I think a needle exchange out there would be fantastic," she said.

From South America to Sutton

The Valley, like other urban and rural communities around Alaska, is grappling with widespread heroin use and the thefts and burglaries that public safety officials often link to the drug or others. Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine that's obtained from the opium poppy.

Statewide, heroin accounted for the highest total street value of drugs seized at nearly $12 million, according to a state drug report for 2014.

Alaska State Troopers say just last week they found a 35-year-old man sleeping in his 1977 Toyota Celica along the Parks Highway in Meadow Lakes with $5,400 worth of heroin and methamphetamine inside. He drew their attention because he'd dropped off his girlfriend on the side of the highway after they fought. Somebody reported the woman walking along the road in her underwear -- she was actually wearing short shorts -- and a trooper found the man. Troopers arrested the man on drug charges.

Alaska's heroin comes from South America, troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said. It makes its way into the state via parcels and body carries, according to the report. Troopers actually seized less heroin last year -- about 22 pounds compared to 55 the year before -- but logged more charges or arrests: 209 compared to 151.

Ipsen said no data was immediately available as to the share of the state's heroin activity happening in the Valley.

Wasilla police seized 13 grams of heroin worth about $5,000 last year, according to the state drug report. Palmer is seeing a definite increase in heroin use. Police Chief Lance Ketterling said there are low-level dealers in Palmer but suspects the bigger dealers are in Anchorage.

It's possible a proliferation of "one-hit" needles could be adding to the discard piles. In Palmer, officers "encounter used hypodermics normally in people's pockets," he said. "Sometimes we notice they're being sold with single doses of what appears to be heroin in the needle."

Putting together the puzzle

The borough landfill deals with hypodermics all the time, officials there say. The borough's community cleanup coordinator handles reports of dumped needles as part of her 1,000-hour on-call position.

She's found needles all over the Valley: several places in Wasilla including off Bogard and Knik-Goose Bay roads; Garten Road and Beaver Lake Road in Big Lake; and in Houston near Hawk Lane last year during an annual cleanup.The coordinator carries sharps containers specially made to hold needles safely, then disposes of them via a contractor who picks them up at the landfill.

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Rountree says a needle exchange would help solve the discarded hypodermic problem. Meanwhile, she's working with Hartley of the fire department in Houston to produce a flier to educate the public, especially with the local spring cleanup about to start like many others in Mat-Su. They're also trying to get smaller sharps containers to give out.

Basics for safe handling of used needles include wearing gloves, picking up needles with a tool (like a set of pliers), placing needles into a sharps container for disposal at an authorized location, and washing hands. Never put loose needles or other sharps into household trash or public garbage cans and don't flush them down the toilet, the flier warns.

She calls the flier part of a larger puzzle that someday could include an exchange.

Rountree expects community pushback against a needle exchange over typical complaints like the programs enable drug use. The alternative, she said, is exposing IV drug users to the risk of what recently happened in rural Indiana, where an HIV outbreak is linked to syringe-sharing partners injecting a prescription opioid that so far involves 135 people.

And it means continuing to expose the public to used needles, Rountree said. She said she hopes to educate the public that a needle exchange actually enables people "to protect themselves and their community. It's a transformational process in their thinking."

Anyone within Houston city limits who finds discarded needles can mark their location and then call the fire department at 907-892-6457 and firefighters will come pick them up, provided they're in a public area. For more information about needle safety, call the Mat-Su Public Health Center at 907-352-6600.

Zaz Hollander

Zaz Hollander is a veteran journalist based in the Mat-Su and is currently an ADN local news editor and reporter. She covers breaking news, the Mat-Su region, aviation and general assignments. Contact her at zhollander@adn.com.

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