A haul of used syringes found in a garden next to a Masterton pub could have spread hepatitis to children and is a "disturbing" glimpse into the town's intravenous drug culture, says an addiction expert.
A gardener raised the alarm last week when he found five to 10 syringes behind the
trees at the corner of Chapel and Jackson streets, next to the Horse and Hound.
Austin Brown alerted the landowner, the Automobile Association, who asked him to cut down the trees and replant the section in grass so there was no cover for drug users - but another syringe was discarded over the weekend.
"At least this one still had the cover on, unlike the other ones," Mr Brown said.
Mary Freeman, manager of Wairarapa Addiction Service, said the needles were most likely used for injecting methamphetamine, methadone or morphine.
There are an estimated 200 intravenous drug users in Wairarapa and she would immediately reinforce the message to her clients that using and discarding syringes in public was unacceptable.
"If there's dirty needles it could be a huge risk, hepatitis C or any kind of infection.
"It's dangerous for little kids who might find them.
"I always thought we were fairly lucky in the Wairarapa, obviously in the cities like in Sydney or on K Road it's a big issue but I haven't known it to be an issue here before."
Mrs Freeman said the syringes were unlikely to be used for heroin, which while popular in Australia had never caught on in New Zealand except for a brief foray into "homebake" years ago.
Brendon Olsen, manager of the Drug Project Wairarapa, runs a Masterton service where dirty needles are exchanged for clean ones and was shocked to hear about the discarded syringes.
They ran the exchange 24/7 to limit the spread of blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis and Mr Olsen said there was no need to throw them away.
