6 ms·

I looked into this a while back (~6 years ago) and it basically broke down like this: diabetics outnumber injectable drug users two to one but not all diabetics

I looked into this a while back (~6 years ago) and it basically broke down like this: diabetics outnumber injectable drug users two to one but not all diabetics use injectable insulin and the ones that do are more likely to do so at home. Drug users, however, have less compunction about sticking themselves in a public space, particular the homeless. Best guess based on these numbers is that it's a 50-50 split between these populations as to who's using public sharps containers. > society's tacit approval to do what they're doing, thus accelerating the societal rot. This argument could be made about providing drugs themselves but fails under the faintest scrutiny for sharps containers because said containers have wide uses beyond shooting up heroin.

freehorse 23d ago
Homeless heroin addicts who inject themselves in public are not uniformly distributed. Thus while in some places you would expect some such injectable drug use in a public toilet (though I doubt most would bother to go find a toilet for that anyway), that is unlikely for the majority of toilets in a country that contain syringe disposers. On the other hand, one would expect that diabetics who inject insulin would be closer to be uniformly distributed (conditional to the population distribution). If one could find syringe disposers only in areas where public heroin use commonly takes place that would be believable, but it is not the case. In contrast, there are actual, real programs and places in many countries to manage issues arising with syringe use, trying to reduce syringe sharing to reduce blood-transmissible diseases etc.
oasisbob 23d ago
> not all diabetics use injectable insulin and the ones that do are more likely to do so at home. I'd love to hear the citation for this one, as people using injectable insulin generally need to do in conjunction with eating, and I can't think of where you'd get the idea that T1 diabetics who use injectable insulin avoid eating outside the home as a general rule. Granted, nowadays plenty of people are using insulin pumps which decimates disposable syringe use, but I'm really puzzled where you picked up that in-home/away-from-home impression from.
- annzabelle 23d ago
  I think they're referring to type 2 diabetics who might just be on a long lasting insulin and not need to inject at every meal?
- peterfirefly 22d ago
  Novopens have existed for a long, long time (40 years). Syringe disposal units are not for the diabetics and they never were. Where I live, they are commonly found in public toilets with awful yellowish lights that make it really difficult to see blood vessels.
  - oasisbob 22d ago
    Sure they were! They're key safety infrastructure in response to a universal problem to keep needles out of the trash. People being harmed by needle stick injuries don't care if the needles are being improperly disposed of due to illegal drug use, or legal injections. Where I live, needle disposal boxes are available in almost all institutional restrooms. I'm not sure why you think the yellow light is relevant. Here's a history of the problem in San Francisco. My memories of the issue in Washington/Oregon around the same time are similar: https://www.japha.org/article/S1086-5802(15)30128-5/abstract https://www.japha.org/article/S1086-5802(15)30128-5/abstract Another article, again highlighting that the focus on needle disposal is keeping all needles out of the trash, as a broader occupational safety issue: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014572179402000605 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014572179402000...
scheme271 23d ago
Anyone with type 1 diabetes is injecting while outside the home. Usually it's a long acting baseline insulin that you can inject at home and then a faster acting one that you inject before eating or drinking anything that's not water.

freehorse 23d ago

Homeless heroin addicts who inject themselves in public are not uniformly distributed. Thus while in some places you would expect some such injectable drug use in a public toilet (though I doubt most would bother to go find a toilet for that anyway), that is unlikely for the majority of toilets in a country that contain syringe disposers. On the other hand, one would expect that diabetics who inject insulin would be closer to be uniformly distributed (conditional to the population distribution). If one could find syringe disposers only in areas where public heroin use commonly takes place that would be believable, but it is not the case. In contrast, there are actual, real programs and places in many countries to manage issues arising with syringe use, trying to reduce syringe sharing to reduce blood-transmissible diseases etc.

oasisbob 23d ago

> not all diabetics use injectable insulin and the ones that do are more likely to do so at home. I'd love to hear the citation for this one, as people using injectable insulin generally need to do in conjunction with eating, and I can't think of where you'd get the idea that T1 diabetics who use injectable insulin avoid eating outside the home as a general rule. Granted, nowadays plenty of people are using insulin pumps which decimates disposable syringe use, but I'm really puzzled where you picked up that in-home/away-from-home impression from.

annzabelle 23d ago
I think they're referring to type 2 diabetics who might just be on a long lasting insulin and not need to inject at every meal?
peterfirefly 22d ago
Novopens have existed for a long, long time (40 years). Syringe disposal units are not for the diabetics and they never were. Where I live, they are commonly found in public toilets with awful yellowish lights that make it really difficult to see blood vessels.
- oasisbob 22d ago
  Sure they were! They're key safety infrastructure in response to a universal problem to keep needles out of the trash. People being harmed by needle stick injuries don't care if the needles are being improperly disposed of due to illegal drug use, or legal injections. Where I live, needle disposal boxes are available in almost all institutional restrooms. I'm not sure why you think the yellow light is relevant. Here's a history of the problem in San Francisco. My memories of the issue in Washington/Oregon around the same time are similar: https://www.japha.org/article/S1086-5802(15)30128-5/abstract https://www.japha.org/article/S1086-5802(15)30128-5/abstract Another article, again highlighting that the focus on needle disposal is keeping all needles out of the trash, as a broader occupational safety issue: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014572179402000605 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/014572179402000...

scheme271 23d ago

Anyone with type 1 diabetes is injecting while outside the home. Usually it's a long acting baseline insulin that you can inject at home and then a faster acting one that you inject before eating or drinking anything that's not water.