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Decades before the pill testing debate these little bins caused an uproar

They are commonly found in public toilets across the country, but 30 years ago needle bins were part of an intense public debate on drug use, harm reduction, and the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Disposal bins for hypodermic needles were slowly introduced in public places throughout the 1980s and 1990s alongside a broader needle exchange program.

Now the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation (ADLRF) has compared past debates about needle exchange programs to that of pill testing at music festivals.

"Essentially they're the same sort of debate, every harm reduction debate is very similar," ADLRF president Dr Alex Wodak said.

Sharp criticism and concern from politicians, police

In 1987, an Australian Federal Police spokesman told Fairfax that "in the opinion of the AFP, the problems and tragedies in the lives of illegal drug users would not be helped by making hypodermic syringes freely available."

But that year NSW became the first state or territory to allow needle exchange programs to operate legally, and by 1989, 55 subsidised needle exchange programs were operating in New South Wales alone.

Other states began to follow suit, and a program was introduced on Queensland's Gold Coast a year later, attracting criticism from local Liberal MP Bob Quinn.

"There are adverse effects on the safety and health of the local community and tourists," Mr Quinn told state parliament in March 1990.

"People are objecting to taxpayers' money being wasted to supply methadone and syringes to addicts under a questionable program."

Programs deemed successful

Dr Wodak said used needles being found in public areas was "very big deal at the time", and that some health departments worried the phenomenon could "undermine popular support and therefore political support for the needles exchange programs."

But Dr Wodak said by the end of the 1980s "everyone had accepted" the role needle exchange programs played in reducing the spread of HIV.

"Full credit also to our politicians — it's hard to believe now how much cooperation there was between the major parties for sensible, pragmatic decisions," he said.

A 2005 review of the $131 million needle and syringe programs funded between 1991 and 2000 estimated that 25,000 cases of HIV were prevented, saving the health system between $2.4 and $7.7 billion.

More than 3,000 needle exchange programs have been set up across Australia since 1986, with 32 million syringes distributed a year.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-19/decades-before-pill-testing-little-bins-sparked-controversy/10790354