News

San Francisco tests kiosks for disposing needles and syringes

May 30, 2017

The San Francisco Department of Public Health has installed 12 kiosks throughout the city for collecting needles and syringes from drug users, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. One kiosk outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on May 11 had 1,500 needles within 11 days. Another one that was installed on Howard Street had around 1,000 syringes in one month.

Each kiosk is part of a three-month test program to reduce the number of needles and syringes. The department will also monitor public concerns about the kiosks attracting more drug users.

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation collected 23,000 pounds of used injection equipment last year.