Pubdate: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA) Copyright: 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Contact: http://www.telegram.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509 Note: Rarely prints LTEs from outside circulation area - requires 'Letter to the Editor' in subject YELLOW LIGHT Cautious Pilot Program Is The Proper Way To Go The Worcester City Council made the right decision Tuesday night to implement, on a limited basis, a program intended to provide the public with a safe and secure means to dispose of used hypodermic needles and syringes. The unanimous vote to start Operation Yellow Box as a six-month pilot program caps three years of sometimes contentious debate. Instead of the eight boxes originally proposed, four boxes will be installed next month, all inside health-related facilities, including AIDS Project Worcester on Green Street, Great Brook Valley Community Health Center on Tacoma Street and the Family Health Center on Queen Street. A fourth site will be chosen and presented to the council by Jan. 30. The vote is timely. The state is planning to require all communities to have a disposal program for needles and syringes because they soon will be banned from the regular municipal waste stream. Grants will cover the cost of the program, up to $10,000 a year. If the cost exceeds that, the state Department of Public Health and private sponsors are expected to step in. The city administration and Public Health Department properly will monitor the program and assess its effectiveness. Operation Yellow Box is far from a panacea, but it promises to be a useful public health tool. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath