News

USPS: Syringes found in Lowell mail drop box

LOWELL, Mass. — A mail carrier opened a U.S. Postal Service mailbox in Lowell to find several used needles and syringes on Monday.

The Appleton Street mail collection box also contained half-empty beer cans and debris, United States Postal Service regional spokesman Steve Doherty told FOX25. Whoever dropped the syringes in the mailbox had capped them first, Doherty said.

Doherty said the discovery is “not unprecedented but very rare.”

Lowell police told FOX25 that area of Appleton Street is a known location for heavy drug use. Because of safety concerns for the letter carrier and the general public, USPS plans to relocate the collection box to a location a block or two away within the next week.

But Lowell police say used needles are not only being found in areas known for drug activity, but in all areas across town, from sidewalks to children’s parks. Police receive calls daily from residents who have discovered the needles in public spaces. Police typically call a local ambulance company to dispose of them, but officers, too, carry special containers to safely remove them.

“The opioid epidemic is spreading across all social classes,” Lowell Police Lt. Donald Crawford said. “You’re finding needles disposed of everywhere. Good neighborhoods, bad neighbors. There is no safe place anymore.”

Police urged residents to be cautious if they find needles, to call police, fire or a local EMS company to remove them.