Syringes found on
Jonesboro road

Bangor Daily News
April 18, 2003

BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY MARY ANNE CLANCY



At least 50 hypodermic syringes and two spoons were
found at a turnoff on Route 187 in Jonesboro this week.
The Washington County Sheriff's Department is warning
people not to handle needles.

By Mary Anne Clancy, Of the NEWS Staff

JONESBORO - The Washington County Sheriff's Department is advising parents to warn their children about finding and handling needles after a discovery in Jonesboro this week.Lt. Michael Riggs, the department's drug investigator, said a man brought in a plastic bag with more than 50 hypodermic syringes and two spoons that he found at the entrance to a woods road on Route 187, just a few miles from Route 1.

"The person who found them collected them out of concern for children and animals," Riggs said. "He saw bicycle tracks in the sand on the side of the road."

Riggs said the man acted out of concern, but put himself at risk of disease by picking up the needles without gloves.

Infection rates of hepatitis C and HIV are particularly high among IV drug users who share needles.

Riggs said it is not common to find such a large number of syringes in one spot, but it is not uncommon to find them in turnouts or ditches in Washington County.

He advises parents to educate their children not to pick up needles and to periodically check areas where their children are playing.

"It's an unpleasant thought, but it is something people have to keep in their minds," he said.

"You don't know what diseases these needles are infected with."