1st April 2009

Heroin addiction still a major problem in Caernarfon

Caernarfon Online along with Gweledigaeth Productions and reporter Jamie Shepherd met Councillor Roy Owen at a well known location in Caernarfon which is regularly used by drug abusers.

 Just a little example of the thousands of needles at Love Lane

Love Lane in Caernarfon runs from the old Bro Seiont Doctors surgery up to "Ysgol Jones Bach" on South Road. For years this is road has been used by both binge drinkers and drug users alike. Shockingly the road is only a few hundred yards from Castle Square (Y Maes) and less away from the Welsh Highland Railway which attracts thousands of visitors to the town each season.

A few years back Gwynedd Council spent £17,000 to build a 10ft wall as a deterrent to stop drug abusers using the area. It was thought at the time that by making it difficult for them to gain access under the Texaco Garage on South Road, it might eradicate the problem. In reality what has happened since is that drug users find it easy to scale the wall and they therefore have a "safe haven" to use hard drugs like Heroin and Crack cocaine.

Councillor Owen speaks to COL

The evidence of mass use is everywhere and we encountered around 3,000 needles in a spate of five minutes. Roy Owen who is a Gwynedd Councillor told us "The problem has been here in Caernarfon for many years, just like every other medium or small sized town. But judging by what we have uncovered today the problem has not improved and with HIV and Hepatitis rife amongst heroin users, the problem of discarded needles is a concern to us all. What we see are thousands upon thousands of used needles some of which are contaminated and some even with blood on them, this, obviously can lead to all kinds of diseases."

"We owe it to our children to address this situation and even though I have specialised safety equipment to remove a small amount of needles, this area needs professional cleaning because of the sheer size of the problem."

There were "hundreds" of needle boxes all over the site

Roy showed us the full extent of the problem by just reaching with his (protected) arm over a small wall he found a carrier bag which contained all the tools needed to shoot up Heroin. The kits supplied by the Government include needles and little pots for "shooting up" and are available form all chemists. This is to encourage drug users not to share their needles or steal from the community. These kits are available free of charge over the counter.

Used needles everywhere

We came around hundreds of used and unused needle boxes which had been discarded, as well as condoms and blood filled needles and swabs.

Evidence of a fire started under the petroleum garage, no doubt lit to keep the users warm whilst shooting up.
There was also evidence of people "sleeping rough" under the petrol station.

Caernarfon Online Editor Gareth Edwards said "I am appalled by what we saw here today. The situation at Love Lane is very serious and a public health hazard. The problem is that even though the council have spent all this money on blocking the access with a large wall, the fact remains that the needles are still there and fresh drug abuse still occurs in this are of Caernarfon."

"Children by nature are inquisitive and love to explore and I'd hate to think of anyone venturing onto this and finding themselves scratched or pricked by a needle. The outcome cloud be horrendous. As I understand quite a few of these abusers are HIV infected and this has obvious serious consequences."

He went on to say "I am very grateful to Roy Owen, Owain Llyr and Jamie Shepherd for making this article possible. It is so easy to turn a blind eye to all this, but by highlighting it hopefully it will bring it to the forefront of priorities in Caernarfon."

"The photos and accompanying video even though alarming, does not show the full extent of the problem as always, you need to see it with your own eyes to realise the full extent of the situation here. I hope though that by showing this problem to the world, we have done our bit to warn everyone to keep clear of this little road. In my opinion it is not a safe place to be and we should advise everyone to keep away from this area."

"Mini" Saucepans and needles where the Heroin was prepared

We contacted Gwynedd Council to get their view and this is what their spokesperson said.

“The Gwynedd Community Safety Partnership brings together a number of key local services which includes Gwynedd Council and North Wales Police as they work to plan and design appropriate and effective treatment, support and preventative services for individuals who have substance misuse problems.

“Also, Gwynedd Council provides a service for the collection of discarded hypodermic needles on open land. As a Council, we are committed to securing a quality environment for Gwynedd’s residents and as part of this important work, we have introduced this service to ensure that needles found by members of the public in any open space, be it public or private such as gardens can be collected by the Council.

”Any person discovering a needle should not attempt to dispose of the items themselves, but should contact the Council and give clear and concise details as to the location of the items. The telephone number for this service is: Arfon 01286 679330; Dwyfor 01758 704090; Meirionnydd 01341 424400.

”To access treatment services for drug or alcohol problems contact the local Substance Misuse Service on
01248 718 030.”