A schoolgirl who stabbed herself in the leg with a drugs needle found in a public toilet has ended up sparking a massive awareness campaign.
Millie Smith, who was 6 at the time, was out with her sister in Victoria Park, Taunton. She needed to use the toilet and so went into the public toilet.
Her father, Nick Smith, recalled the incident which took place two years ago: “She picked up what she thought was some sweets.
“It was in fact a used needle. She brought this out to show her big sister and was told to immediately drop it as she recognised it as a needle.
“Unfortunately, however, Millie ended up stabbing herself with it.”
Millie was taken straight to Musgrove Park Hospital.
Nick said: “She received incredible treatment from the staff in what was a very traumatic experience for her.
“Obviously our first worry was HIV, though the staff assured us this would be unlikely. A bigger threat, however, was Hepatitis.
“Millie had to have blood tests taken and we then had a very long and worrying wait to find out if she had picked up any diseases from the used needle.”
A couple of months later the family had the all clear. But the memory of what had happened remained strong.
Nick contacted the police thinking what Millie had stabbed herself with was a heroin needle.
He said: “Despite assuming it had been left by a heroin user the police were pretty sure it was the user of one of these so called legal highs.
“I found this quite hard to believe, as I'd always thought legal highs were like herbal plants and not something you injected. So I decided to look into this myself.”
The next day Nick went back to Victoria Park.
He said: “I observed what were clearly drug users going in and out of the toilets. I went over to talk to them.
“One was a very well-known local user and we had a very open and frank discussion about what they were using and it was indeed a legal high.
“At the same time one of my wife's friends put up a Facebook post and we realised that something we had thought was a rare occurrence was actually the norm.
“There were needles being used and discarded quite openly in parks, people’s gardens and even along the river Tone. It really was unbelievable.”
As a result of the staggering number of needles Nick witnessed he decided to set up a local action group called SWAG (South West Action Group).
The group aims to try and highlight what is going on with drugs in the town.
He said: “It really was staggering. I was asked by the police to attend a community meeting and on the way I collected around 30 to 40 used needles from the pathway along the river Tone.
“These were not hidden away. They were just discarded just like sweet wrappers. The people at the meeting were truly shocked at the number.”
Nick believes that it was around four years ago that things were at their worst in the town, in terms of drug use.
He said: “It was crazy. The heroin users were switching over to these legal highs and openly injecting in the streets.
“This was happening in daylight, in full view of the public and there was nothing the police could do as no laws besides littering were being broken.
“I believe it was reported nearly a year before in the media after a user was found slumped over in the toilets on Castle Green.
“The police reported that if nothing was done then there was a genuine fear that a child could get injured. They were correct. My Millie was indeed injured.”
SWAG was set up to help combat this problem. It had support from the police, Taunton Homeless Association and local media.
Nick said: “We didn't stop shouting. What was going on in our town was dangerous. I really can't put into words how lot of people were feeling.
“Every day we would find more needles. We would hear stories of users off their faces in town shouting at members of the public.
“All the while police could do very little. This wasn’t because they didn't want to. It was because they unable to.
“You were not allowed to drink a can of cider in the park, but you could openly inject drugs in an open shop doorway. That’s how crazy it was."
Eventually the law was changed, meaning the shops selling legal highs in Taunton were no longer able to do so.
Before the Psychoactive Substances Act, Spice could be sold in shops and online. It was marketed as a so-called legal high.
The act made the drug illegal in 2016 along with all other legal highs.
While all this was happening a local police officer approached MPs to discuss the problem with drugs in the Taunton.
As a result the highs were made illegal.
Nick said: “Everyone knew this wouldn't stop the problem, but we haven't seen a return to those days yet, although needles have never gone away.
“Unfortunately we do seem to be seeing an increase of needles now being found again. I'm hoping this doesn't increase as the summer comes but only time will tell.”
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Nick is constantly afraid that another child might be injured in the same way Millie was.
He said: “I will never forget the worry while we waited to hear back from the blood tests. I don't wish that on any parent.”
Nick isn’t convinced that enough is being done to combat the use of illegal drugs in the town. But he suspects that the needles he comes across in town now are those of heroin users.
He said: “You can't blame the police as we all know that their funding has been cut to such an extent that there are just not enough police on the streets.
“There is also not enough funding to help the users. This has also been cut. It wasn’t even good enough in the first place. It is just a vicious circle.”
Asked how he would solve the problem of drugs use in Taunton, Nick said: “In my opinion there is only one way to combat the use of drugs.
“It sounds a little ironic me saying this as an anti-drugs campaigner. But I believe that the sale of them should be taken out of the hands of criminals so that you can control the use of them.
“In other words decriminalise them. But in a very controlled manner. No one is willing to have that discussion though as they don't want to be seen as soft on drugs.
“This is despite the fact that doing so, would not only save lives but also billions of pounds.”
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