The Chron article explores two possible remedies: syringes with retractable needles (which cost much more than normal syringes), and 24 hour biohazard drop boxes. It turns out that the San Francisco AIDS foundation, which runs most of the city's needle exchange programs is going to install a drop box at Sixth and Mission within the next six weeks. The idea is that addicts aren't necessarily going to wait around for programs to open to dump their used syringes, hence the drop boxes.

Will all of this work? Tough to say. The SFPD was calling outreach services for one of our neighborhood homeless folks in front of our apartment when we went running this morning, and there were still seven or eight piled-high shopping carts at Alvord Lake in the Park at nine-fifteen. We'll check back in a few weeks - the Chronicle will probably have forgotten all about this by then, but we run through the Haight nearly every day.

Image of a retractable syringe from Pet Remembrance Products.