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.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath