Father worried after finding used needles near Jones Lake

A Moncton man is raising the alarm after discovering a bunch of used needles at a Jones Lake park while playing with his children.

Gabriel Girouard was watching his dog and his children rollin the snow, when he noticed the syringes.

''There must have been at least 20,'' he said.

Girouard, who works as a medical doctor at Moncton's Georges-Dumont hospital,said some looked as if they had blood inside.

Unsure of the procedure to follow, he called Tele-Care, which advised him to contact the RCMP.

But the police told Girouard they did not deal with this sort of thing, and he would need to pick the needles up himself and bring them to AIDS Monctonfor disposal.

AIDS Moncton confirmed it does not have the resources to go out and pick up used syringes, but its offers a 24-hour drop-off bin where people can dispose of them.

Unable to reach someone at the organization, Girouarddecided to alert residents.

''I couldn't find a way to get those needles picked up,'' he said.

''What are we supposed to do? It wasn't just one, it was a bunch. It's very dangerous to handle if you don't have the right tools.''

Girouard said he found the discovery very worrisome.

''A child could either pick those needles up by curiosity or just by accident, or sliding in that area and just roll on these needles. There were quite visible and accessible to anybody.''

Girouard said that with the powerful drugs that are on the market right now, a small dose could seriously harm a childwho was pricked accidentally, not to mention the risk of infection.

''It's very worrisome to see that in public parks we can have that kind of risk.''