IPSWICH – Town Manager Stephen Crane and Public Health Director Colleen Fermon are pleased to announce that the Town of Ipswich received a free disposal kiosk for needles and syringes thanks to support from the Department of Public Health (DPH).
The new kiosk is located in the lower level of Town Hall, outside of the Council on Aging Cafeteria, near an existing kiosk for disposal of unwanted and unneeded medications.
The DPH provided the kiosk free of charge since the Town of Ipswich implemented a syringe services program last summer, in which a DPH-approved outside vendor — One Stop, of Gloucester — provides Ipswich residents suffering from substance use disorders with free syringes, overdose prevention education, access to Narcan, and resources to testing for hepatitis C, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The syringe services program, which is funded by the DPH, is meant to reduce harm among the population suffering from substance use disorder by reducing the reuse of syringes, which can spread disease.
The new disposal kiosk will accept lancets, needles and syringes. Sharp objects cannot be placed directly into the kiosk, but small containers that fit through the kiosk’s door are available at Town Hall.
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