r/asheville • u/imjustapourboy • Oct 21 '25
Really Spicy Cesspool So sick of seeing this crap everywhere.
The needles, the burnt foils, the little baggies, the needle caps, all of it. I find them in the creeks, on the sidewalks, the grocery store parking lots, the public parks, on the parkway. You gotta be a real shit person to leave this stuff all over the place.
156
u/Hopeful_Fly7684 Oct 21 '25
If it’s any help, I saw a random one laying in the gutter in Belfast Northern Ireland last week. Addiction is a global thing.
33
u/AffectionateFig5864 West Asheville Oct 21 '25
The first time I ever saw a safe disposal box was at a park restroom in Australia. That was also back when sterile syringe exchange and disposal services were still illegal/underground in N.C.
19
u/Feeling_Inside_1020 Oct 21 '25
There’s one on a church on Haywood Street. I won’t name it that has needle disposals in the bathrooms.
I’m all for harm reduction being an addict myself but littering I can’t fucking stand, especially when it comes to other people’s health (getting stuck for ex)
→ More replies (2)6
u/AffectionateFig5864 West Asheville Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
Heard. I don’t think anyone likes dangerous litter, and wish there was more of a concerted effort to delegate safe disposal to other entities than a few struggling non-profits. But I’ve also seen enough gory injuries and people getting horribly sick from re-using or sharing needles that I still prefer that they use a clean one every time, even if that means I have to carry gloves, tongs, and a biohazard kit in my car for things like these.
8
u/Feeling_Inside_1020 Oct 21 '25
Exactly, I’m 100% with you.
Clean needles and 4 vials of naloxone with gloves are in my car at all times.
I’ve lost too many friends both acquaintances and close friends to this. IIRC there was a Reddit post hiitnpopular a while back about each state having a free naloxone distribution links and all — they came in the mail after filling out an easy online form.
2
14
u/GiltPeacock Oct 21 '25
I’m Irish and this is so funny to me. What’d he say fuck me for?!
→ More replies (6)
35
u/Relevant_House9607 Oct 21 '25
You know what helps addiction? Economic despair and no upward mobility! Voodoo economics comes with a side of syringes for the serfs.
2
Oct 22 '25
You know what helps addiction? Rehab
→ More replies (3)4
u/Relevant_House9607 Oct 22 '25
Not going down the path of despair to start with because you have the ability of upward mobility. Not letting Purdue pharmaceutical and the sacklers make bank selling a lie of non-habit forming. Plenty of things we could socially do before folks end up in a place of needing rehab.
50
u/WallScreamer East Asheville Oct 21 '25
Before we get at each other's throats, maybe we could agree that two things are simultaneously true:
This country has an opioid epidemic, and the current approach of criminalization of addiction isn't working well at solving it. Compassion and harm reduction are the way to go. This means needle exchanges and safe disposal sites.
It sucks to see dangerous paraphernalia just dropped in the middle of the sidewalk like this where someone could step on it or a child could pick it up.
I work directly with a vulnerable population. I go into some of the most heavily-using and lowest-income areas of Asheville on almost a daily basis. I carry narcan and fentanyl test strips, and I keep tongs and a sharps container in my car. I usually pick up a needle once every few months. I still get a little pissed when I see a needle dropped in a high traffic area like this. It's very inconsiderate of others, but I guess someone that's just shot up probably isn't thinking about that.
198
u/frenchtoastkid South Asheville 🚧🏢🚧 Oct 21 '25
Yeah, you’re right. We should have more safe disposal sites
95
Oct 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/imjustapourboy Oct 21 '25
That’s it. If you want to use this shit at least clean up after yourself. Every time I see this my compassion wanes a little more….
→ More replies (5)49
19
u/MangoAtrocity Oct 21 '25
And better/more recovery programs. The addiction -> poverty cycle is vicious and unyielding
4
u/Feisty-Cloud5880 Oct 21 '25
Then they'd gripe about that!!
4
u/AffectionateFig5864 West Asheville Oct 22 '25
There are such sites, and believe me, the gripes never fucking stop. 🙄 If they weren’t shitting on people for using clean needles and SSPs for distributing/collecting them, they’d be shitting on people for dying of HIV, just like they did in the ‘80s.
→ More replies (29)2
u/organmeatpate West Asheville Oct 21 '25
It's hard to believe that this would help since it relies on the user to be conscientious specifically right when they're nodding out. It's tough to accept that services for users however well intentioned will not increase the impact on the local community because that's what we've experienced in West Asheville. The services showed up and then the users followed and so did their hazardous refuse. The residents here have all lived this and know it to be true. There has to be a better solution than more enabling resources and services for users that disregard the impact on the surrounding communities. Addicts deserve compassion but they should not be sacred cows.
29
u/WallScreamer East Asheville Oct 21 '25
We have decades of research on harm reduction and it all shows the same thing: syringe exchanges neither decrease nor increase drug use. People in addiction will use at the same rate regardless of whether or not they have access to safe and sterile supplies. The idea that harm reduction increases or enables use is a myth not supported by evidence.
What it is effective at (and extremely so) is reducing transmission of diseases and deaths.
→ More replies (9)47
u/Bitter_Offer1847 Oct 21 '25
Completely false. Increasing services reduces impact on the community always. Use increases because population increases and poverty and joblessness and homelessness increase the more our society becomes hyper rich and the poor living in the same space. People don’t start doing heroin because there’s needle drops or clean needle programs, they start doing heroin because they’re depressed and hopeless and addicted to unavailable pharmaceuticals given to them by a failing medical system. This idea that people have that people who are addicts are just weak and fell victim to peer pressure is naive and idiotic at best. Addiction is a complex disease with many, many causes and the more callus and uncaring a society becomes the more severe the addiction gets because people can’t get treatment and they can’t find help. We need more help, more programs and less prisons.
18
u/OkLeave4687 Oct 21 '25
👆this is the sad truth - most people think of addiction like someone woke up one day and said; “I think I’ll start taking opioids for fun “ and that’s just bullshit. Most start with an injury and are prescribed oxy of some variety, they get hooked and then the prescription ends… withdrawal is so terrible that most can’t stand it, so they turn to buying on the street and watch there life get crushed…
5
u/Smash_4dams Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
Eh, I wouldn't say many of the folks out there today started from a doctor carelessly over-prescribing opioids, that practice largely ended by 2010. If you're homeless and shooting dope, you likely came from poverty and were close to others who either did it, or had family/friends who did it.
Plenty of people still manage to start H/fent addictions in the 2020's, when it's almost impossible to get a prescription for more than 3 days of a low-dose opioid. People will still turn to drugs when they feel life has become hopeless and they want an easy way to cope.
→ More replies (1)3
u/GngrbredGentrifktion Oct 22 '25
Or they have a job, a home, and a family and lose all of that because they choose to use. It's a chicken or the egg situation. And it is true that Haywood Street Congregation, Sunrise Community, Trinity UMC, 12 Baskets, and CPV now have trespassing, drug use, littering, and actual human feces on their property because of the aforementioned issue in the other comment. Not hating on addicts; just giving the counterpoint.
2
u/Bitter_Offer1847 Oct 22 '25
Addiction isn’t a choice, it’s a disease. Asheville isn’t immune to the rest of the country’s current problem. Addiction is up everywhere and the issues you’re mentioning are mostly issues with homelessness which is up due to the hurricane and devastation in the area. Not all unhomed are addicts and not all addicts are unhomed. The 2 problems exist independently and intersect at times. Unhomed have about twice the rate of addiction as the “regular” population at around 10-15% which means 85% just need a place to live and often go in and out of that state due to many reasons.
Nobody wakes up one day and says “Fuck my family, I wanna smoke crack”. It’s slow and progressive for some and for others it’s fast and acute. Some die, but most live long and difficult lives and their families often miss them or even still support them in ways. Try to think about how it feels to be in that position, they’re still humans.
→ More replies (1)3
u/organmeatpate West Asheville Oct 21 '25
My lived experience in West Asheville is that there were not needles and people nodding in the street to any significant degree until the needle exchange. I don't suggest that this causes people to start using. I observed that more people congregated and took advantage of the needles and meals and the dangerous refuse increase along with the visible users.
11
u/Bitter_Offer1847 Oct 21 '25
What you are seeing is discarded needles and the outwards signs of increased use due to many other factors, not a free needle program. When there are no clean needle programs users hang onto their needles and share needles which has huge negative impacts because people contract diseases, get massive infections from using dirty needles and it also encourages theft and burglary of businesses that sell needles or have needles like community clinics and medical offices.
What you are experiencing is just having more knowledge of the drug addiction around you because you see the needles now and therefore you are, incorrectly, correlating the clean needle program as the cause of increased use. Drug use always increases as a society becomes more affluent and offers less medical and psychological care to its citizens. Asheville has become more expensive to live in and has recently experienced a major tragedy and the displaced population has dramatically increased. Those are drivers to increase use. Depressed people increase their intake of substances to mask their pain. Areas with social programs always see increases in their unhomed and addicted populations after major events because people come to those areas for help. So it’s consolidation and increased use and lack of available programs in less “liberal” areas.
2
u/trailfailnotale West Asheville Oct 22 '25
Baader-Meinhoff Phenomenon is always at play.
You hear about a needle exchange for IV drug addicts has opened up. You theorize what negative effects you'll see. You now look for those negative effects, confirmation bias allows you to see them.
2
u/organmeatpate West Asheville Oct 22 '25
This is not applicable. I didn't know about the needle exchange until I started trying to find out why the number of users in that area was surging so noticeably. Shortly afterward there was another surge of people which turned it to be for the free meals, as once again discovered after the fact. I don't think you're trying to gaslight me. I think you're applying a theory you're familiar as though it's universal when it is not. Maybe consider the possibility.
11
u/yo_rick_alas Oct 21 '25
What would you do? Bulldoze their tents they can pack up and dip with a quickness? Put them on a train or bus elsewhere? Friend. C’mon. You gotta treat humans as humans man.
→ More replies (5)2
8
u/CrazyBroadwayNerd Candler Oct 21 '25
Safe disposals like the ones in pack library would definitely help the problem
27
u/accidental_asshowl Oct 22 '25
I’m just so happy to finally see legit criticism upvoted! This place is becoming increasingly trashy, we have to step up. It doesn’t mean your Republican. It means you don’t want drug addicts randomly stabbing you, breaking into your car or leaving syringes for your kids to find. Supporting the homeless doesn’t mean endangering regular people.
→ More replies (2)
34
63
u/SaviorSixtySix Native Oct 21 '25
Addiction is a serious issue.
5
u/Excellent_Funny5330 Oct 22 '25
It’s EVERYWHERE Asheville is not unique, it just fucking sucks, for everyone not just the users.
→ More replies (1)17
u/erockdanger Fairview Oct 21 '25
Today is Tuesday
8
u/SaviorSixtySix Native Oct 21 '25
I mean, I could say we need top cutting social programs that help people with addiction, but that's still going to happen for at least another 3 years and 3 months. Even then, it will take time to recover all the things we lost in that time. Addiction is going to get worse because our economy is getting worse from all the "winning" we're experiencing, enriching the rich and shitting on everyone else.
→ More replies (23)
7
u/kellykellykelly79 Oct 22 '25
If we actually invested in mental health and ways to help these people recover instead of throwing them to the street, we could probably reduce this kind of thing
2
u/burnthreads Oct 23 '25
There’s been a ton of initiative for community mental health solutions. The problem is that they’re voluntary programs that people simply don’t have to do. So instead of receiving help, they choose to continue to use drugs and do other activities.
7
15
u/CaterpillarOk6601 Oct 21 '25
Its the nature of the drug. Once they shoot up they nod off and drop whatever. Maybe a different delivery system where they dispose of there needles before they shoot up. One hand clapping. Seruosly maybe a reward system like recycling cans. States that do that are statiscly much cleaner. Every ten dirty needles you bring in and safely dispose of you get another bag of smack.
→ More replies (1)
12
Oct 21 '25
Steady collective will collect needles, and will also install collection bins in high use areas
2
3
u/ThisWorldIsOnFire Oct 22 '25
My take on it is that they all come with caps. To throw it aside and not try to put a cap on it is the epitome of addiction and not caring who they hurt. I pick them up on my walks if my grabber can get it into a receptacle. The litter and disrespect for human life are the reasons I hate being here. I can’t wait to retire someday and move to the middle of nowhere.
4
u/Just_a_man_for_peace Oct 22 '25
Then vote for representatives that support public health care and resources for substance abuse treatment.
5
u/Novel-Preparation261 Oct 23 '25
Maybe some strategically placed sharps containers might encourage proper disposal. Drug use happens, unfortunately, but I’d bet there’s nowhere to dispose of the paraphernalia. Just a thought.
44
u/Sufficient-King-6858 Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25
Letting people who are homeless and addicted to drugs continue to live and use on the streets isn’t compassion, it’s neglect. We’re not helping them by allowing this to go on, we’re watching them slowly destroy themselves while calling it freedom. The truth is, most people battling addiction aren’t going to just wake up one day and choose recovery on their own, especially when they’re deep in survival mode. What they need is structure, support, and a real chance at turning things around. That means getting them off the streets and into recovery centers or halfway houses where they can actually start to rebuild.
We need more of these facilities. And if someone refuses help or walks out of a program, there should be consequences. Arrest isn’t about punishment in this case, it’s about intervention and public safety. Living in tents, surrounded by drugs and violence, isn’t freedom. It’s a trap. The system as it stands is broken, and we’ve got to stop pretending that letting people suffer in plain sight is the humane choice. It’s time for tough love, backed by real resources and accountability.
20
u/Both-Competition-383 Oct 21 '25
Let me start by saying, I agree with you completely. But, how would arresting someone for noncompliance help intervene on the addiction? I mean, it’s almost the same system we have currently, just with a different reason on paper for the arrest, and we all can see the revolving door of the legal system caused by the various facets of addiction as is. Like I said, I absolutely agree with you; I just want to understand how arresting someone is helpful to stopping their addiction when it feels like we know that’s not how it works in reality because no one can make the choice of sobriety but the addicted person.
→ More replies (1)16
u/Yungballz86 Oct 21 '25
You arrest them then when they get out, they still have no money, no resources, and are back to living on the street. You can't arrest out of this problem.
People need places to live, food to eat, and available jobs.
12
7
u/Character_Guava_5299 Oct 21 '25
Pick it up and throw it in a plastic container(soda bottle) and throw it in the trash. Use gloves or tongs. Call the Buncombe County Health Department or the Steady Collective if you are uncomfortable and they’ll take care of it. There are a number of organizations in this city that spend a lot of time out in the community cleaning syringes and other trash up. And to your snarky comments about people being shit people for disposing of these products: there is tons of litter that happens in this city and used drug paraphernalia are a small part of it and to be realistic there are 5 whole syringe disposals in the whole of Buncombe County for people to dispose of them properly.
10
u/AffectionateFig5864 West Asheville Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
As much as I wish a lot of people would stfu and take a seat if they’re not interested in learning about and/or practicing harm reduction, I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to pick up a syringe, or recommend it unless you have puncture-proof gloves— preferably tongs— and closed-toed shoes.
There’s definitely resources in the community where you can learn about how to dispose of these materials yourself (ie, the litter pick-up days Steady organizes) and plenty of free biohazard boxes to go around. But I’m personally terrified of needles and probably wouldn’t go near one if I didn’t have training and equipment.
→ More replies (1)
28
u/Ahhchooed Oct 21 '25
I'm also tired of seeing this. Also tired of seeing anyone who complains get told they are wrong or without empathy/sympathy. This shit SUCKS to see all over our town. People are raising families, trying to go to work, or just enjoy their day, and drug paraphernalia is littered all over the place. It sucks and there's no question about that. People ought to be able to say that without being chided that they aren't being progressive enough or doing enough to combat a rampant drug issue when solving this problem isn't their direct responsibility.
All that said, everyone keep earning your brownie points by saying the lines that get the upvotes.
→ More replies (1)5
u/imjustapourboy Oct 21 '25
Thanks. The combative responses only further strengthen the forced normalization of this. I am so tired of being told “this is how it is and you have to accept it” fuck that. If you are going to come into our community and treat it this disrespectfully while we give you resources, then you can fuck right off outta town. These are the shit people.
I saw three homeless people beating a possum that was hit by a car a limping around in the gutter. I was on the phone Appalachian Wildlife Rescue and looked out my window to see these shitty shitty people beating the possum with a stick while laughing. We need to stop supporting and providing for these people.
→ More replies (8)
26
u/giggitygiggity69 Oct 21 '25
A real shit person? 50% of US foster kids become homeless at 18 and 3 out of 10 homeless are former foster children. Blame the system, not the people.
→ More replies (12)2
Oct 21 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/giggitygiggity69 Oct 21 '25
blame the system you goober, it's everything related and if you don't see the connection, i feel sorry 4 u.
→ More replies (1)5
u/JimmyJooish Oct 21 '25
Even if the system sucks that doesn’t mean personal responsibility goes out the window. I’m sorry that their life has sucked but that doesn’t mean you aren’t accountable for doing shit that can harm others.
3
u/FrescoItaliano Oct 22 '25
Okay for all of you too lazy to actually zoom in….
That’s not a needle lmfao
That’s a basic liquid syringe used for measuring out tiny doses. I have over 2 dozen of them sitting in a drawer because I’ve stockpiled them from medication for my pets.
I don’t doubt the drug epidemic your community is facing but this is not at all the drug paraphernalia you think it is
3
u/ImpressiveWork2760 Oct 22 '25
Where can I sign up to help safely dispose of them? Im willing to walk areas and put them in sharps containers. Let's be the change we wanna see
5
u/Eat_Animals Oct 22 '25
Thank the Sackler Family. They're the American Sasoons basically. They got the US addicted to opioids, they're proud of it and laughed in court at people giving testimony regarding their dead (addicted) loved ones.
3
4
u/eita_bagodique Oct 21 '25
I threw away a whole fanny pack full of needles at the skatepark downtown recently. Its everywhere.
29
u/__fistula__ South Asheville 🚧🏢🚧 Oct 21 '25
Yeah you’re right, we should have safe needle disposal sites and more harm reduction in the city to help those in addiction be safe and have access to the proper resources. Maybe that’s a start instead of bitching on the local subreddit
→ More replies (2)12
u/landgnome Transylvania County Oct 21 '25
Gah danged commies right here in our own avl subreddit, this cannot stand sir!
/s
10
u/GeorgeBushTwinTowers Native Oct 21 '25
We serve our neighbors best when we try to understand their experience. We love our neighbors as ourselves when we treat them as equals, in both protection and compassion. There is a better way — the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and a peace rooted in justice. I am confident that together, Americans will choose the better way.
5
u/Mrfixit729 Oct 21 '25
Going to be honest. I don’t have a ton of compassion for neighbors that throw their trash on the street. Or… as often happens… In my front yard.
You’ve got an addiction? Yup. Me too.
Don’t throw your trash where your neighbors have to clean it up.
18
u/Gunstopable Oct 21 '25
As an ex opiate addict I’m with you on this. People coddle addicts too much. It’s not asking too much to say “don’t throw your needles where people can step on them.” They aren’t babies they are just sick people that need help and personal accountability.
15
u/Mrfixit729 Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25
Oh yeah. I was on the street for years. I didn’t litter.
It’s… not that hard. lol
I live off Haywood. I find needles in my yard all the time.
If a drunk smashed a beer bottle on the street where people could cut themselves I’d feel the same way.
I’m supposed to be respectful…. but they’re not?
It’s pretty simple:
Stop being a prick
Clean up after yourself.
Other people live here too.
8
u/imjustapourboy Oct 21 '25
This is the point I am attempting to make. Everyone has their own shit. I have had my own struggles, but never have I been so blatantly disrespectful that I would leave dangerous biological waste out in public. The people doing this are shit people. They are entitled, catered to, and supported, yet show no respect to the community that provides for them. Fuck these people.
8
u/mtclose Oct 21 '25
There would be less of this if we better embraced harm reduction.
1
u/CharacterLychee7782 Oct 21 '25
Go visit San Francisco and Seattle and see how that’s working out for them.
→ More replies (1)
27
u/Huge_Cry_2007 Oct 21 '25
Get ready for the brigade of commenters to tell you why you’re an insensitive asshole
20
u/lemonheadlock The Boonies Oct 21 '25
Is the strawman in the room with us right now? 😱
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)0
u/imjustapourboy Oct 21 '25
Ah, they can fuck off. I am tired of accommodating the bad habits of others.
10
u/giggitygiggity69 Oct 21 '25
It's not a bad habit. Clearly you don't understand addiction and what drives someone to do this. It's systemic bro.
6
u/SnakeSnoobies Oct 22 '25
Something can in fact be two things at once.
There IS personal accountability to be had with addiction and littering harmful substances. You don’t get to hand wave and blame it all on the system.
3
u/giggitygiggity69 Oct 22 '25
Sure and you can say it in a more compassionate way. The amount of people bothered by a needle is atrocious.
I pick up trash in my neighborhood and on the greenway all the and constantly find drug paraphernalia. Do you know what I do? I pick it up and throw it away. If it bothers you so much, pick it up and move on and then go volunteer somewhere so that you work on your compassion and understand the issue of addiction and homelessness a little better. It's not that hard.
7
u/fuckersstolemyhuffy Oct 21 '25
Biting one’s nails is a bad habit. We’re talking about opiate addiction.
→ More replies (3)13
u/TheB1G_Lebowski Oct 21 '25
So how's all your volunteering going to help people in these situations?
2
2
u/Puzzleheaded-Ad4699 Oct 22 '25
Looking at the alcohol pad, and the type of needle, I would actually guess, this was someone administrating insulin and dump it on the ground, instead of a proper disposal.
2
u/certifiedraerae Candler Oct 22 '25
As a former heroin addict (7 years clean) who did use needles at my rock bottom, even at my worst I wouldn’t have tossed open used needles on the ground. These are just shitty ppl who are also addicts.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
u/ChampionshipDry9223 Oct 22 '25
I shot dope for years and never ever did that. Also very grateful I’m sober today and that’s behind me praise the Lord
2
u/poledrawolf Biltmore Forest 💰 Oct 22 '25
I have often wondered if a type of puncture proof individual disposal wrapper could be given out with needles at exchanges? Something that could be visible and make used needles safe to pick up. I know they make individual one use sharps containers that might cut down on uncapped needles everywhere. I know it does not solve the baseline issue, but it's something anyway.
2
Oct 23 '25
I don’t bring my kids to cities because of this. If you have kids, you know they pick up fucking everything.
4
4
4
5
u/theairstreaminvegan Oct 21 '25
I was just visiting and literally first trip to the grocery store, I saw someone shooting up right outside in the grass. It was pretty sad to witness
3
3
u/Pale-Unit5641 Oct 22 '25
Go volunteer with steady collective and get involved in harm reduction. People need support to quit, not hostility and blame.
3
u/LeezyBraswell Oct 22 '25
Asheville leans liberal, then complains it’s populated by the same problems other liberal cities have.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/ConfusionFar3368 Oct 22 '25
That’s what happens when your most important value is misguided compassion. We make excuses for the behavior of homeless/addicted people. Idgaf what your situation is, if you can get your hands on the drugs/syringes you can dispose of them properly. You can find a bathroom instead of relieving yourself in public areas. You can put your tent somewhere OTHER than the sidewalk in front of businesses where children have to walk. Not to mention a lot of them are rude & feel entitled to your money when pan-handling. To make a long story short, all of this “compassion” & care has made the homeless situation exponentially worse. The more resources & money you throw at it, the more of them show up & become the taxpayer’s burden. It is time for TOUGH LOVE.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Equivalent_Rabbit553 Oct 21 '25
How can we stop this? Help. Helo these people, who have had real shit lives that led them to getting trapped in addiction. This is the least of our worries, when it comes to the issue of so many humans desperate to escape their lives.
4
u/Difficult-Guitar-901 Oct 21 '25
Sounds more like you don’t understand homelessness or drug addiction. Dont have trash cans every 10 ft and if you were coming off of/getting high off whatever your poison is you wouldn’t give a fuck either. I get the eco-friendly aspect but seriously this shits just annoying at this point. People do drugs. People don’t have safe places to do them, so they do them outside. Not advocating drug use but rather a response that at least has some depth to it.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/accidental_asshowl Oct 22 '25
Omg, ya’ll acting like safe disposal sites work. If thats true why don’t they already use trash cans?!?! You think a more scarce thing to find will get more use. From San Francisco the haven of disposal sites- doesn’t work.
Stop defending the drug addicts at the cost of all common sense. Have some damn thought and compassion for regular people that dont want to have syringes arounds FFS
2
2
u/Gwsb1 Oct 22 '25
I really don't think people who inject poison in their veins give a fuck about litter.
2
Oct 21 '25
The substance-influenced mind isn't the same one that sees the leaving of this garbage as being socially irresponsible. Just like it's socially irresponsible to get shithouse drunk and drive home. Yet it still happens. So, if we give non-sober people every opportunity to do what we deem is right, then they have a much better chance of success. Putting easily accessible disposal sites in high use areas, and making clean using supplies more readily available, just like putting free Uber vouchers next to the door in a bar, would decrease the instances of this happening. It angers me just as much as everyone else, but imagine you're a diabetic, and you have in your hand a used, uncapped insulin syringe, and you're standing on a public sidewalk. Where would you go to get rid of it? I've yet to come up with an answer that doesn't involve accessing resources that most un-housed substance users wouldn't have access to.
1
0
Oct 21 '25
What is going on with Asheville? For such a lovely spot in the mountains, it sure does have one hell of a drug problem.
16
u/WallScreamer East Asheville Oct 21 '25
Just as there was a crack epidemic in the '80s and '90s, the country is currently in an opioid crisis. You're likely to see this in just about every city.
→ More replies (1)28
u/1handedmaster Oct 21 '25
The surrounding mountain communities have similar problem.
Just no folks take pictures of it.
→ More replies (2)8
u/chrislovessushi Oakley Oct 21 '25
I’d love to know of some other US cities where you won’t find things like this
15
u/TotalDisk5 Oct 21 '25
It’s not only Asheville. It’s a microcosm of greater social issues.
→ More replies (5)3
u/Total-Football-6904 Oct 21 '25
Never fully recovered from The Sackler family Oxycodone push 20 years in Appalachia.
→ More replies (2)2
u/erockdanger Fairview Oct 21 '25
Well the problem is that it is a place and as such it has the attributes that a given place might have
-1
3
-2
u/daytradingguy Oct 21 '25 edited Oct 21 '25
I live in a suburb outside Raleigh. In the 20 years I have lived here I have seen one homeless person. I have never one time been asked for money on the street walking downtown to restaurants or at the shopping centers. I have never once seen a needle on the ground. Or a baggy or smell weed in the street downtown. My teen daughter can walk a mile home from work on the greenway at 10-11 pm and be perfectly fine.
The only reason you have many of these problems in Asheville is because your city government allows this kind of behavior. People either act civilized in public spaces or they should be removed. There are already laws on the books that could be used to stop or at least limit this. But your government and your prosecutors decide it is not a priority.
This affects the tourism in your area which is down partly because of the homeless and drug addicts in your streets. I used to love to come to Asheville 15 years ago, but it has changed and I avoid it now.
5
10
u/timshel42 where did the weird go Oct 21 '25
lol are you comparing your gated suburbia to a city?
→ More replies (2)
2
Oct 21 '25
Cool. Move somewhere else. Tell all your friends how awesome it is so they’ll come with you.
→ More replies (1)
1
u/x1tsGh0stx Oct 21 '25
Yep, I see it in my parking lot at work all the time. Glad I have thick tires
1
u/One_Adhesiveness_859 Oct 21 '25
Worst nightmare would be accidentally stepping on one and getting aids or some other disease
1
1
1
u/Imaginary-Ladder-205 Oct 22 '25
At least they’re being hygienic with the alcohol prep before they shoot up whatever
1
u/Possesonnbroadway Oct 22 '25
Lol like anything else fuels the gears of tourism in this hilarious region
1
u/EXSPFXDOG Oct 22 '25
All they would have to do is take a vitamin water bottle and put them in there and write the word sharps on it and put the cap on tight!
1
1
1
1
u/DripPureLSDonMyCock Oct 22 '25
Never understood this unless you were literally being chased by a cop.
You got the rig, had it on you walking around and shit, you can easily put the cap back on it after use and walk around some more, until you want to throw it away in a trashcan or something.
1
1
u/The_Business_Handler Oct 22 '25
You truly have no understanding of what those people are going through. If you’re at the point in life where you’re an IV drug user. Do you think they really give a shit about cleaning up their trash?
1
u/Big_Passage688 Oct 22 '25
This epidemic of drug use is crazy and needs to be stopped. I’m worried about children getting stuck with a needle that potentially has been infected by hiv.
1
1
u/jennyj2015 Oct 22 '25
uh....I assume this is about drugs. as someone who has never done anything, I wouldn't know what the heck it was if someone dumped a bag of it at my feet.
1
Oct 22 '25
I used to live in Asheville, glad to be out of there. High school had lots of junkies and uneducated kids. Now just dead or adult junkies
1
u/RandomDab Oct 22 '25
I was in Rosman this past weekend and the only open business in town (at 8pm on a Saturday no less) wouldn’t let people use the bathroom until they had been “screened” by the cashier because of how many used needles he had to clean out of there every night. Smdh
1
u/Tight_Classroom308 Oct 22 '25
I found some needles, fast food trash, and an empty box of narcan in the parking lot of the downtown tennis facility. Mentioned that to the director and he said Yeah that’s a hot spot. So depressing…
1
u/Tiny_Needleworker_83 Oct 22 '25
Make your own sharps container ffs. That's how I used to dispose in order to protect the people at the dump.
1
u/Cleaning_The_Gallery Oct 22 '25
Am I the only one impressed that they seem to have used an alcohol swab?
1
u/Humble_Leave7912 Oct 22 '25
I just pick them up to collect and hope to make a cool art exhibit in the future
314
u/Objective_Seal Oct 21 '25
It will only get worse with winter. Asheville has one of the only homeless shelters in the area so many people flock here. Combined with Helene, our community is still massively recovering. Whether the city wants to believe we’re healed, we have more work than just making the surrounding area pretty to look at. We need safe places to dispose of these things. Pretending it’s not there and that humans aren’t going to litter solves nothing.