BELFAST City Council has backed a motion to implement drug waste/needle bins throughout the city to cut down on the number of drug-related litter.

The motion was proposed by Green Party Councillor Brian Smyth to help what he said was a "serious humanitarian issue in the city centre".

Councillor Smyth said the problems around intravenous drug use had grown to become a huge problem with hundreds of affected in the city centre alone. He highlighted how cocaine currently remains the most popular drug which is injected in Belfast and users were reported to be injecting from eight to twelve times per day. Council workers are also recorded as lifting up to and more than 1,000 needles per month and in March 2023 Council staff lifted over 1,800 needles.

Looking at a scheme in Glasgow, Councillor Smyth said it had massively improved the levels of drug litter found. The motion was backed by Independent Councillor Paul McCusker who said Belfast could learn from Glasgow and in nine months over 3,000 people had been referred to A&E for drug problems, causing a major health problem with drug deaths and associated diseases on the rise.

An amendment by the DUP to have community consultation on the implementation of these bins in different communities didn't garner enough support and the original motion passed unanimously.