By Cheryl Jahn

Needle Buy Back Coming To PG

Oct 18, 2018 | 3:41 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – A group of local businesspeople is taking a page from an initiative in Kamloops, where a program paying individuals five cents for the return of a spent needle.

“My heart told me to get involved,” explains Barry Boehmer, who has set the wheels in motion to launch a similar program in Prince George. “John F. Kennedy’s saying ‘Not what your city can do for you, but what you can do for your city.’  That’s just part of what I want to do. I want to be that person who’s doing something for his city.” 

And he has put his money on. He has committed $2,000 and the same day, another local businessman matched it. 

Boehmer says he is not about pointing fingers or assigning blame; he just wants to fill a gap and clean up the city.

But Northern Health is not entirely on board.

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“Our harm reduction sites actually are an access point for health and social services. So when people return their supplies to us, we replace them with clean supplies and it’s also a referral point for folks,” explains Reanne Sanford, Northern Health’s Regional Nursing Lead for Harm Reduction. 

She also notes that, when the spent needles have monetary value, people may be inclined to break into the sealed sharps containers, increasing the risk of infection to those individuals.

While Boehmer understands that, he still worries about the needles that are not retrieved by Northern Health. And he hopes to have the local initiative underway before there is snow on the ground.