Sign of our times: Opioid needles everywhere

Syringes left by drug users amid the heroin crisis are turning up everywhere, AP's Michael Casey reports from Lowell, Mass., in "'It's raining needles': Drug crisis creates pollution threat":

• "They hide in weeds along hiking trails and in playground grass, get washed into rivers and onto beaches, and lie scattered about in baseball dugouts and on sidewalks and streets."
• "[I]solated spots where drug users can gather and attract little attention [are] often the same spots used by the public for recreation."
• "The needles are tossed out of carelessness or the fear of being prosecuted for possessing them."
• "One child was poked by a needle left on the grounds of a Utah elementary school. Another youngster stepped on one while playing on a beach in New Hampshire."