Growing concerns over “needle-litter” in Santa Cruz may lead to more disposal kiosks

City leaders and residents in Santa Cruz say they’ve grown tired of seeing needles/syringes throughout the city and are looking to the county for help to address the issue.

The city is requesting four additional syringe disposal kiosks and if the county agrees to provide them, that’ll bring the city’s total to six.

Where they’d be located is unknown for now, although concerns at Main/Cowell Beach and in the Gateway Plaza area could lead to kiosks there.

“Usually on the beach this [Downtown Streets] team finds two to five syringes a day,” says Jenette Lian. “When up on the levee there’s usually more hidden. Anywhere between 20 and 150.

And the numbers are adding up, with more than 6,000 syringes found city-wide from July 2018 to May of this year.

“The drugs and needles are here. They need to be dropped off in a safe place,” says Santa Cruz resident, Jan.

For now, syringe disposal kiosks are placed at the city clinic as well as the government center.

In its agenda report, the city will move to show no support of “safe injection sites.”

Additional syringe exchange sites without council approval and “secondary syringe exchange” programs are also not supported by the city.

Council is expected to discuss this issue during its meeting later today. The afternoon session begins at 1 p.m.