Parents speak out after kids find drug paraphernalia, used needles in Halifax – Halifax [Video]

Halifax-area parents are voicing concerns, saying children have been finding drug paraphernalia and that, in one case, a child was pricked by a discarded needle.

Five months ago, Emily Medford wouldn’t have batted an eye at her seven-year-old son playing in a pile of leaves. That’s all changed after he was pricked by a needle at a bus stop on Gottingen Street in the city’s north end.

“You’re scared because you don’t know, was the person clean? What kind of drugs was it? And you’re not thinking, ‘Oh my god, I need to bag up this needle and take it to the hospital,’” she said.

“It was just grab your child and let’s go.”

Across the harbour in Dartmouth’s Highfield Park neighbourhood, residents say they’re used to seeing drug paraphernalia scattered on the streets, especially at bus stops.

“My two-year-old picks up everything, so he’s constantly picking stuff up off the ground,” area resient Karissa Duffy said. “Maybe there …