Dropping off

Used needle drop-off stations were installed late last week in Dunkirk and Portland, and more could be on the way.

Two kiosks that work similar to mailboxes were installed north of Jay County Courthouse in Portland and south of Dunkirk City Building. Anybody can safely drop off needles at these stations regardless of if they have a prescription for them or not.

If the program goes well, more kiosks could be installed elsewhere in the county such as Redkey, Jay County Health Department environmentalist and administrator Heath Butz said.

Jay County Commissioners approved the kiosk installations in August. Those kiosks were available early this year, but Jay County Health Department was too busy with the coronavirus pandemic to install them, Butz said.

He added the department discussed the kiosks with local police departments and the Jay County Drug Coalition before installation.

Potential benefits to installing the kiosks include minimizing the amount of needles found in parks and waste disposable, and reducing the amount of needles being shared or reused by those who use them to take illegal drugs, Butz said.

“The ultimate goal is to limit communicable disease,” said Butz, who added that IU Health Jay sometimes treats patients who were infected by used needles.

Jay County’s kiosks are different from needle exchange programs that started in other Indiana counties after the HIV outbreak in 2015. State law allows each county to start a needle exchange or drop off program.

Butz said the county also has around 100 containers that can be sent to residents for safe disposal. Those interested in a container can call the Jay County Health Department at (260) 726-8080.

Indiana Department of Health recommends each county in Indiana have a safe disposal program for used needles. Blackford County is the only comparable nearby county with such a program, Butz said.